Preschool

As we focused on Parts of a Bird in the Birds & Eggs theme from Experience Preschool, we created bird wing art.

So far we’ve learned about the Head & Beak, Body, the Feet & Claws and now the Wing.

Birds have hollow forelimbs that are covered with feathers called wings. All birds have feathers and wings, though not all wings are used for flight. A penguin is an example of a flightless bird.

Experience Preschool Teacher Guide

Bird Wing Art Invitation to Create

Invitations to Create are creative activities that allow children to explore materials and the process of art. Materials are provided and the child decides how to use them. For the Bird Wing Art activity, we have black and white paint, brushes, natural colored feathers, glue and a piece of gray paper.

I always use the Title Display and Inspiration Photo that are included in the materials for the Invitation to Create because real photos give children a realistic image of what a bird wing is. The word “wing” includes literacy. Sometimes my kids like to label their art or work on their letters. The Title Display and Inspiration Photo help me put together beautiful art displays after their work is complete.

My young group loves to mix paint! So that’s part of the process in our bird wing art.

The black and white mix beautifully together on the gray paper. We can see a mix of colors in the Inspiration Photo of the bird wing too!

Squeezing glue is an important skill as well as planning art. I love how this little one made a line of glue and then added feathers in a row.

The art isn’t supposed to look like the Inspiration Photo. I think it perhaps akes some time and awareness to appreciate child art! I’m just in love with what I see!

Due to COVID19, I have varying numbers of children in attendance this month. This day I just had two so I combined their art in a display with another bird project. I love the soft, mostly neutral colors.

Feathers for Lunch Story

What do you like to eat for lunch? This fun story is available online so we watched it there.

Feather Sort

We used a tray of four colors of feathers to sort onto paper plates. While this was quite easy for a 2 and 3-year old, it’s good practice!

I intentionally included varied shades of color as a challenge. I asked, “Is it more red or more purple?” to help them make a decision.

They enjoyed this activity and did it twice. Everything’s a competition!

WE tried a little patterning with feathers but these two are not quite ready for this concept. Maybe it was just that their attention span was gone. I love incorporating the colored feathers for hands on math activities.

Fly Away I Can Read Books

This day’s activities included the small group literacy I Can Read book: Fly Away!

I read the story aloud as the children followed along in their books. On each page, they traced the bird’s path with a finger.

Our sight words this month are: “play”, “love” and “away”.

Putting books in the hands of little ones is so powerful! They begin to see themselves as readers, learn how to turn pages, identify known objects, notice text and name letters. Older ones may recognize words and “read” the book themselves. These little readers are fabulous and always looked forward to by my group!

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I received curriculum from Experience Early Learning for honest and authentic stories resulting from my daily experiences using the curriculum. As a user of Experience Preschool for many years, I am pleased to share quality educational experiences. #sponsored #ExperienceEarlyLearning

The second week of Birds & Eggs focuses on Bird Parts including head and beak, body, wing, feet and claws, and tail.

As children become more observant, they begin to describe and compare elements of their physical world. They start to classify, sort and categorize objects. This process helps them construct knowledge about birds and bird parts. Through activities and discussions, children begin to compare physical features of birds such as the color of their feathers or the shape of their beaks. They start to realize that, like humans, birds are unique. Teachers can help children develop these skills by encouraging children to identify their own body parts then compare them with a bird’s. Fire example, children can be asked to point to a bird’s beak in a book then fined a part on their body that is similar to a beak.

Experience Curriculum Teacher Guide Week 2: Bird Parts

Playdough Bird Tracks

Using sticks and our happy little bird, we made bird tracks in play dough. This scientific reasoning and fine motor sensory STEAM Station allows learners to focus on the feet as we learn about parts of a bird.

Here’s our take on the Bird Tracks STEAM Station idea. I set out play dough on a tray with a basket of sticks and this cute little bird we had on display over the winter. It’s high time we put him away for the season, but not before we tried out using his feet for bird tracks in play dough!

It’s super fun to experiment with different kinds of marking in the play dough to make them like bird tracks. We talked about where we might find bird tracks – in the mud, snow or sand. My favorite place to see bird tracks is definitely in the sand at the beach!

Any play dough activity is attractive to children but switching it up by using different materials and trying out new concepts. Usually, they will ask for additional tools like dough rollers, plastic knives or dough cutters but they didn’t this time.

I encourage them to poke, pinch or roll the dough with their fingers and hands. It really gives them a full sensory experience of the play dough as well as works on fine motor skills.

My group took turns with the bird but were equally engaged with the sticks.

Textures and marks that may show a bird had been there!

I showed them how to poke with the end of the stick or try laying the stick flat and using the side of it to make bird tracks.

Hexagon Tracks

Our bird tracks concept transferred over to a math activity. Our special shape this month is the hexagon. First, we counted the sides and then used orange paint to fingerpaint bird tracks on the hexagon.

Resources for Educators

If you’re looking for ideas and information about creating Take Home Learning Bags for your child care or preschool children, read this post: How to Make Home Learning Bags.

Be sure to try virtual story time as well, using the April book and video list.

Try out Dance n’ Beats! Experience Early Learning is excited to announce ad-free, digital access to Dance ‘n Beats ONLINE, our research-based movement program designed to build coordination, flexibility and fitness. Dance along now to over 50 fun videos made just for young children. But the dancing never stops! In our new dance club, you will receive 12 new Dance ‘n Beats videos every month! 

More Birds & Eggs Posts

Check out more of my bird and egg posts:

• What’s in the Box: Birds & Eggs
• Paper Bird Nests
• Bird Sounds Listening Activity
• Favorite Bird Books for Preschoolers

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I received curriculum from Experience Early Learning for honest and authentic stories resulting from my daily experiences using the curriculum. As a user of Experience Preschool for many years, I am pleased to share quality educational experiences. #sponsored #ExperienceEarlyLearning

It’s nearly April and here in Wisconsin, we’ve already seen the return of the birds in our yards. It’s wonderful to hear them singing again and soon they will be nesting. Birds & Eggs is one of my favorite themes from Experience Curriculum I have a lot of favorites… This post shares all that’s included in this month’s theme, so you’re in the right place if you’re wondering What’s in the Box? Birds & Eggs.

What’s in the Box? Birds & Eggs

First, we have all the Teacher Tools including the Summary of Skill Assessment, skills chart, Theme Web, Daily Activities calendar, and music CD. The music is also available under Member Resources for those who have purchased the curriculum.

Her’es a close up of the Theme Web for Birds & Eggs.

Family Newsletter and the My Creative Mind sheets for week one.

Here’s a close up of the Daily Activities calendar.

Four Teacher Guides – one for each week:

• In the Nest
• Bird Parts
• Exotic Birds
• Tree Birds

One of the story books this month is called Hello Bird.

Hello Bird
Get acquainted with a feathered menagerie in a participatory trip through the wide world of birds! Little blue eggs. Are they new? How many are there? One, two. This call and response story supports patterning and counting skills. Hello Bird is an instant classic as toddlers mimic these cute, cuddly baby creatures with their own movements, including the bear, turtle, fox, and more!

Calendar and numbers

Theme poster

Core Concepts

There’s a bag of materials labeled “Core Concepts”. These will be your letters, numbers, shape, color and conversation cards for the month. Also pictured is the

Daily Lessons

There’s the overview for the month of Birds & Eggs Activities! Lots of games, art, literacy, math and more.

How to Create Take Home Learning Bags

Do you need to make take home bags for your preschoolers due to COVID-19? See this blog post at Inspired Learning for the how to and printable page to include with your activities bags for week one of Birds & Eggs.

More Birds and Eggs Activities

• Paper Bird Nests
• Bird Sounds Listening Activity with Bird Photos
• Favorite Bird Books
• Feeding the Birds
• Hello Spring Tree Wall Display
• Robin Poster from Egg to Bird
• Little Chicks Craft
• Bird Watching
• Trail Mix for Watching Birds

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I received curriculum from Experience Early Learning for honest and authentic stories resulting from my daily experiences using the curriculum. As a user of Experience Preschool for many years, I am pleased to share quality educational experiences. #sponsored #ExperienceEarlyLearning