Group Activities
Adult-Child
Toddling on the Wild Side
E Resources Group
Age level: 1- and 2-year olds
with an adult
Season: All Seasons
Time: 1 hour
Topic: Birds
The format of our program is set up
as follows:
45 minutes of exploring at their own
pace the 8-10 activities which are spread out in a park or large activity room.
Being outside works the best. These activities are followed by 15 minutes of
group time which includes a theme snack, and story, finger plays or songs. Our
class size is limited to 10 child-adult teams when inside and 15 teams outside.
Title: Tweet, Tweet
Easy Bird Feeders
String Cheerios or old pretzels on a
piece of yarn or ribbon. Tie the ends together and hang in a tree or bush.
Provide enough to snack on too!
Egg Sort
Count the eggs. Have your tot sort
eggs into egg cartons. They can choose to sort by color or size.
Egg Maracas
Place a couple pieces of rice,
millet (bird seed) or small pebbles in a plastic egg. Let your toddler shake it
and dance to their own music. What does it sound like if you put other things
in the egg? Try grass, bark, berries, etc. USE CAUTION! These items could be choking
hazards. Adult supervision is required.
Feather Painting
Who needs a paintbrush to paint? Let
your toddler paint using a feather.
Feather Rubbings
Place a feather under a piece of
paper. Show your toddler how to make a rubbing using the side of a crayon
(paper removed). Try different feathers and different crayons. Use the paper
for wrapping paper or special cards.
Bird Watching
Toddlers are fascinated by birds.
Spend some time watching them. Viewing bird feeders behind a nearby window is a
great way to see birds.
Count them. Notice that different
birds come to different types of feeders. Why do you think that is? (Bird food
preferences as well as location play a role in which feeder a bird will visit.)
Notice the different colors on the
birds. Birds are often more colorful in the summer than they are in the winter.
Are the birds big or small? Slow or
fast? Can you fly like a bird? Use your arms or scarves for wings and pretend
to fly.
Nest Building
Look for bird nests. What do birds
use to make nests? Do you think you could make one using your mouth and your
feet? Try it using a clothespin or 2 fingers as a beak.
Bird Snack
Create your own bird food snack
using raisins, cereal, beetles (candy coated chocolate candies), dried fruit
bits, and goldfish crackers.
One-fisted egg
Have you ever wondered why the eggs
don’t break when Mama sits on them? Try this experiment at home. Wearing a
rubber glove, place an egg in the palm of your hand. Squeeze with your fingers
evenly. If the pressure is evenly distributed, the eggshell will resist
cracking. If you squeeze more tightly with one finger, the egg will crack.
Isn’t Mother Nature amazing?
Feather Match
Make a memory game by gluing
feathers onto index cards. Use craft feathers or cut feathers out of
construction paper. Do not use real bird feathers unless you are familiar
with local and federal wildlife laws. Many bird feathers and nests are
protected and cannot be collected. Read the Migratory Bird Act for more
information.
For a more advanced game, paste
pictures of birds on cards. Have your toddler match the feather to the bird.
For example, a red craft feather or red construction paper feather matches a
cardinal. An orange feather may be matched to a robin or an oriole.
...prepared by Ginny Malcomson
Age
1-2
Multiple Intelligences
Linguistic
(reading, talking)
Logical-mathematical
(numbers, reasoning)
Bodily-Kinesthetic
Gross motor or kinesthetic
development (moving, running, moving your body, jumping)
Small motor or tactual development
(blocks, puzzles, sensory)
Musical
(songs, patterns, sound)
Interpersonal
(understanding other people and
social interactions)
Intrapersonal intelligence
(self knowledge)
Naturalist
(understanding of the physical
world, nature)