Suba udasanak!
COMING UP:
*RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch this weekend:
https://www.rspb.org.uk/get-involved/activities/birdwatch/
* Braidbar Nursery Blethers next week:
| Tuesday 02.02 @11am | BLUE + YELLOW GROUPS (Apples) |
| Tuesday 02.02 @1pm | ORANGE + AQUA GROUPS (Bananas) |
| Wednesday 03.02 @1pm | RED + PINK GROUPS (Apples) |
| Thursday 04.02 @2pm | GREEN + PURPLE GROUPS (Bananas) |
Please remember that you are welcome to join us at another time if the designated group time doesn’t suit your family.
*Diary dates – Friday 5th February = In-Service day
– Monday and Tuesday 8th and 9th February = Holidays
Today (and on Monday) we invite you to connect with nature and investigate the wonderful world of birds. In the suggestions below there are many ways to develop skills in collecting, using and sharing information, which involves aspects of literacy as well as numeracy and maths.
Here is a bird that you may see outside when you go for a walk or from your window. Do you know what its name is? It’s a Robin. We can tell this because it has a red tummy or breast. Can you find out some more information about Robins? Where do they live? What do they eat? You can go to a book about birds, if you have one, or Google, try the RSPB website, to find out more. It would be great if you can share what you find out on Teams, maybe through a video, drawing or a book of your own creation!
B. 
Can you name parts of a birds body? Some body parts are special just to them and not shared by other animals. For example, feathers, beak and wings.
Think about a bird’s beak. Whereabouts is it on their body? What do they use it for? How does it move?
Why don’t you gather different utensils like tongs, clothes pegs, chopsticks etc. and try and pick up different things like twigs, seeds etc. to see how birds manage to gather, collect and eat all with their beaks! This is a great activity for fine motor development as well as developing and valuing perseverance!
C. What kind of home do birds live in? Where do they build these nests? What materials do they use? Why? How do they build them?
Can you find out any more about birds’ nests?
Maybe you could use some of the treasures you have collected with your ‘beaks’ to build a nest. Gather different things like twigs, leaves and pinecones, get some playdough and create a nest!
Perhaps you could build a nest with Lego or use large construction materials or cushions to build a nest big enough for a large bird like an ostrich, or a pterodactyl…or a small child!
D. 
Perhaps you could use other materials to make a collage picture of a bird’s nest, rather than a model. Practise cutting, tearing and shape recognition along the way. Use describing words to talk about the properties of the materials you choose – rough, smooth, fluffy, hard etc.
E. 
Last week Simran made binoculars to help her look more closely at animals in her garden. Why don’t you do some really careful bird watching this weekend and find an interesting way to record what you see. We’d love to know of all the different birds you come across. A few months ago Miss Paterson had a pair of goldfinches that kept visiting her garden and she was very excited to see their colourful feathers each time they appeared.
Try printing or drawing some bingo cards with a variety of birds and throughout the day whilst in the garden or on a walk, tick, stamp, colour in each bird when you see it. The first person to fill in their whole card is the winner! It may take you a few days to see all the birds! This link will take you to some bingo cards:
http://www.kidcandoodle.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/KCDbirdbingoUSA2.pdf
Here is a picture identification chart that will help you learn birds names. Maybe you can use dots or simple tally marks to keep track of how many you see:
https://www.rspb.org.uk/globalassets/downloads/biggardenbirdwatch/2021/how-to-resources/eng_id-print_at_home–min.pdf
F. If there are not so many birds visiting your garden, perhaps you could attract them with one of these bird feeders.
Please always check for allergens in seed mixes etc.
Got some stale cereal and fruit that’s past its best? Why not try making these Cheerio and Fruit Bird Feeders. It’s a great craft for strengthening fine-motor skills and the birds will love it!
You will need:
-A skewer or thin stick
-cereal (preferably cheerios)
-fruit
-dried fruit
-string or twine
Why not try making a pattern with the fruit and cereal? Or counting how many pieces you can fit on?
Winter Bird Feeders
You will need:
85g lard or suet (room temperature)
50g grated cheese
Handful of raisins
Handful of quality bird seed
Child’s knife
Chopping board
Wooden spoon
Mixing bowl
Yoghurt pots or plastic cups
String (cut to desired length)
Sharp pencil
Instructions
- Carefully use a sharp pencil to make a hole in the bottom of your yoghurt pot.
- Push a little bit of the piece of string through the hole in the bottom of the yoghurt pot.
- Ask your grown-up to help you to tie a knot in the piece of string on the inside of the yoghurt pot.
- Carefully, chop the lard into small pieces and place them into the mixing bowl.
- Add the grated cheese, raisins, and bird seed to the bowl.
- Mix the ingredients together using a wooden spoon or your hands.
- Make sure all the dry ingredients have stuck to the lard.
- Fill your yoghurt pot up to the top with the mixture to create your winter bird feeder.
- Wash your hands.
- Place your bird feeder into the fridge and remove it after one hour.
- Ask your grown-up to help you to hang your winter bird feeder outside.
- Watch as the birds enjoy their winter treat!
Take a used toilet/kitchen paper roll, smear with peanut butter or coconut oil, roll in birdseed then hang with string!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/makes/bird-feeder
G. Here is a non-fiction book about birds. That means it is full of facts and information about birds rather than a made up story. We can learn new words and facts when we read non-fiction books. Look at the pages closely. You might want to pause the video. Can you spot letters and words? Numbers? Pictures? All these different things together help us understand more deeply. Why don’t you go and find some of your non-fiction books and see which of these features they have?
H. A song to spot rhyming words and ordinal numbers!
I. Now that the mornings are getting lighter and soon winter will hopefully be turning into spring, birds will start singing again in the mornings and you may be able to hear them. Last weekend Mrs Harris had her bedroom window open and it was sunny, and she could hear some birds singing. It is a sign that spring is coming bringing better weather , hooray!
https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-songs/what-bird-is-that/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/curations/radio-little-robin-meets
