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

Greece is officially the Hellenic Republic, and it’s made up of thousands of islands as well as a mainland on the Mediterranean Sea. It’s considered the birthplace of western civilization, so there’s a lot to learn about this ancient and beautiful land.

Greece Basics

Mainland Greece is on the Balkan peninsula and is bordered by Albania, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Turkey, as well as the Ionian and Aegean seas. It is home to about 10 million people, with the capital, Athens, being the largest city. About two thirds of Greeks live in urban areas.

The total area is about 50,949 square miles, or 131,957 square kilometers. The official language is Greek and the vast majority of people are Greek Orthodox.

It has a parliamentary republic form of government, with a president, prime minister and parliament.

The name comes from Graeci, one of the first ancient Greek tribes to settle in what’s now southern Italy.

The land of modern day Greece was largely united in the second century, but it was broken up after the Crusades in 1204. It was largely under control of the Ottoman empire from the mid-15th century, and gained independence in 1830. It has had dictators both royal and military, was occupied during World War II and began its transition to democracy in 1974.

It is considered the birthplace of democracy as well as western philosophy, history, and many major scientific and mathematical discoveries, as well as the home of the original Olympic Games.

Modern day Greece is considered to have a high income economy with shipping and tourism as major sectors. It has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world and its median age is 44.2 years, which is the seventh highest in the world.

Greek National Symbols

The Greek flag has alternating stripes of blue and white, with a white cross on a blue background at the top left corner. The cross is s symbol of Christianity, and while the number of stripes (nine) doesn’t have an official meaning, there are also nine geographical regions in Greece. This flag has been in use since 1978, and the coat of arms features the same white cross on a blue background, surrounded by laurel branches.

The national anthem is known as “Hymn to Liberty” or “Hymn to Freedom” and is part of a poem written in 1823 first set to music in 1828. It became the national anthem in 1864 and is also the national anthem of Cyprus.

There are lots of symbols and people from mythology that are considered national symbols, including the Phoenix and Hellas, the ancient personification of Greece. The little owl, Athene noctua, is also considered a national symbol as it was a companion of the goddesses Athena and Minerva.

Learning about Greece for Kids

Of course there are tons of resources for learning about ancient Greece for kids. To name just a few:

Design your own Greek vase with this coloring page from Kids Puzzles and Games.
Get more Ancient Greece coloring pages with facts from Kindergarten Worksheets and Games. They also have more activity sheets and fun facts here.
Most of the resources at Teachers Pay Teachers have to do with Ancient Greece.
Kids Activities Blog has fun facts and printable worksheets.
Grab an Ancient Greece mini book printable from 123 Homeschool 4 Me. They also have other worksheets and notebooking pages for older kids.
Check out some Greek myths for kids from DLTK Kids. There’s also some great stories and resources at the BBC.

Darcy Miller Designs has a pretty laurel wreath template you can download, or draw and cut out your own leaves to make laurel crowns while you learn the history of the Olympics from National Geographic Kids.

Check out a virtual tour of Athens from Rick Steves, or check out the city via drone tour. I also found a cool 3D reconstruction of ancient Athens if you want to compare it to the present day. There are of course a ton of other places you can check out virtually in the country.

Check out some traditional Greek music and dance, learn to write your name in Greek, and learn a bit about Greek philosophy for kids.

There are lots of great Greek foods to try, and if you’d like to make some at home, Budget Bytes has a great collection. And don’t forget the baklava; you can find a recipe for that at Natasha’s Kitchen.

Have you read?

Greece Basics

Greek National Symbols

Learning about Greece for Kids

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