Bird Learning Activities for Kids

As it starts to warm up in the spring, lots of new creatures arrive on the scene, including baby birds and birds that migrated south for the winter and are returning with the spring. There are lots of fun ways to learn about birds, so let’s get going!

First you might want to talk about the life cycle of a bird. This craft from I Heart Crafty Things is specifically about chickens, but of course you could color your bird in different ways to have it represent a different bird if you want. (The book From Egg to Chicken is another great way to teach the life cycle of birds to younger kids.)

Observe birds outside more easily by making them bird feeders. You can make them out of egg cartons, like this one from Crafts on Sea, or out of fruit rinds, like this one from Thimble & Twig.

Make a cute bird’s nest craft using a paper plate and dot markers with this tutorial from 3 Dinosaurs. Or have kids go on a scavenger hunt in the yard or on the playground so they can make their own nests. All the details are at The Crazy Outdoor Mama.

Embark on the Journey has a lovely backyard birds unit study with printables you can download when you enter your email address. It has three-part cards, a word scramble, journal pages for recording observations and more.

If you want to add some STEM to your bird learning activities, you can learn about how to build a nest and give it a try with this STEM challenge from Views from a Stepstool. This gives you a chance to talk about the things birds use to make their nests and how they actually do it to keep their eggs safe.

Or you can learn about how different kinds of bird beaks work for the kinds of jobs they need to do, with this experiment from Left Brain Craft Brain. It will get kids thinking about what different birds eat and how the shape of their beaks makes it easier to access that food. Kids will have lots of fun with this one as they find the best tools to use on different “foods.”

Birds and Nest

Gourd Birds

How to Draw a Bird

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The celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is important throughout Mexico and other parts of the world. Her feast day is Dec. 12, and the celebrations honoring her appearance to Juan Diego in 1531 begin a few days before that.

Whether you celebrate yourself or just want to share about the celebration at home or in your classroom, Las Mañanitas: The Beautiful Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a good place to start. The book, by Ernesto Joel Vega Rosales and Jeanette Gonzalez Seneviratne, with illustrations by Dana Sanmar, tells the story of a family’s celebration of the feast day in both English and Spanish.

They prepare with a novena, which is nine days of prayers and preparations. The children, Lucia and Pablo, are given special outfits made by their grandmother that look like what Juan Diego might have worn when he saw Our Lady. The book describes the prayers that are made each day, such as a prayer for respect for life, for families and for the indigenous people of the Americas, to name a few.

As told in the book, Juan Diego was a native Mexican born near modern day Mexico City. His given name was Cuaauhtlatoatzin, which means “He who speaks like an eagle.” When he converted to Christianity his name was changed to Juan Diego, and as he walked to church he passed a hill called Tepeyac. One day he heard the birds singing especially beautifully and a voice called him to go to the top of the hill.

There he saw Our Lady of Guadalupe, who asked him to tell the bishop she wanted a chapel built in her name at the foot of the hill. The bishop asked for a sign that Juan Diego really saw her, and later she had him collect flowers that she blessed and take them to the bishop. When Juan Diego dropped the flowers, an image of Our Lady could be seen on his cloak, which is still on display in her basilica to this day.

The feast day is celebrated as mañanitas, which includes singing, indigenous music and dancing, and children presenting flowers to Our Lady. Juan Diego is remembered today as being humble, brave and faithful, and was the first indigenous American made a saint.

The book is colorful and tells the story in a clear way, and it’s fun to have it both in English and Spanish if you teach Spanish or speak Spanish at home or in the classroom. It’s a great way to learn the basics of the celebration and the story of Juan Diego and why he is still remembered today.

About the book: 40 pages, paperback, published 2024 by Loyola Press. Suggested retail price $14.99.

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