Summer Adventure Box: Birds

Last year we did our first Summer Adventure Box on dinosaurs. This year, Jack wanted to learn about birds. Instead of making a huge box like I did last year, I went with the nestiest (?) looking basket I could find. In the basket this year will be:

Books! Birdhouse for Rent is a cute one that we actually found at the library last summer. When this book makes its way into the basket it will be accompanied by a paint-your-own bird feeder I got at Michael's. We'll also read Birds and A Nest Full of Eggs and work on some reading skills with the Birds reader we found at Barnes and Noble.

And more books! I picked up the DK Guide to Birds at the Scholastic Warehouse Sale last month. I found the Backyard Birding for Kids in the gift shop at our museum. I also pulled out our Bird Songs book, which Jack enjoys.

Jack always likes stickers.

I found this cute little hummingbird puppet at Let's Explore. We filled our feeder this weekend and are waiting for our first visitor. Jack found the wind-up parrot at the zoo gift shop. The Beanie Baby was one I had from years ago. Jack was excited to see it, and apparently Boris was, too, because he kept taking it from the basket.

Some other odds and ends: Professor Noggin's Birds of North America game, state birds magnets, a bird puzzle, a bird call, and a butterfly and bird bush.

A cool Find It game--this should keep him pretty busy!

Jack opened this Playmobil bird set this weekend. It is really cute!


A couple of other things I have my eye on:

• A "How to be a Birdwatcher" shirt
• Birds of the World Rubbing Plates

I will also put in some field guides we have as well as a new camera for him to use when we go on walks--as soon as I can walk for more than ten minutes without having to go pee. Also coming up, our library will be hosting a pigeon day, and later this week the parks department is hosting a series of nature walks downtown.

When Jack first said he wanted a box about birds this summer, my first thought was to go more academic--maybe learn about different birds around the world, do some literature studies, etc. Then I realized that a) he's only four, b) I'm having a baby, and c) he also has requested that we learn about all of the Night at the Museum characters. So we're taking it easy. He really enjoys watching the birds in our yard, and I think this is a topic we'll revisit many times.

If you are interested in going deeper, Heather posted a great link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology as well as a robin unit study we may have to try next spring. Also, Ami has several great resources over at HomeschoolShare: a Backyard Birds Lap and Note, Storks, Ostriches, and Eagles, just to name a few. And of course there are great FIAR books with birds like Owl Moon and Make Way for Ducklings.

Happy birdwatching!