I love these ideas because they teach multiple concepts in one.

We enjoy providing learning opportunities and projects for our children afterschool and/or on the weekends with our 5 year olds. Because our time is limited, it’s great when we can tie in multiple concepts into a project to help save on time and most importantly to make it more meaningful.

Here are a few activities we created that relate to our 100th day of school that we’re celebrating this week but also tie in Valentine’s Day, Random Acts of Kindness, and teaching Math and Reading.

Bird Seed Heart Shaped Feeder

We found a special Valentine’s Day Poem and thought it would be nice to give the birds their very own Valentine. We’ve been working on Random Acts of Kindness the past month.

We printed out the poem for our wall to memorize and then created our Bird Seed Heart.

Here’s the Valentine’s Day Poem

Valentines

I gave a hundred Valentines.
A hundred, did I say?
I gave a thousand Valentines
one cold and wintry day.
I didn’t put my name on them
or any other words,
because my Valentines were seeds
for February birds.

by Aileen Fisher

Make your Own Bird Seed Heart

Supplies

• Peanut Butter
• Bird seeds
• Black Sunflower Seeds
• Heart cutout
• String

Directions:

1. Draw a heart onto cardboard and cut it out.
2. Create a hole at the top to attach the string from at the end of the process.
3. Then generously spread peanut butter onto the cut out heart cardboard.
4. To create our Bird Seed Heart we collected 100 Black Sunflower Seeds to line the outside and then sprinkled our “1000” seeds in the middle on the front.
5. Make sure you press the seeds down so they don’t fall off when you pick them up.
6. Then insert the string into the hole.
7. Hang outside and observe.
8. Hang up the Poem somewhere on your fridge to remember the special poem.

Here’s a Printable for you to use.

100th Day of School Activity

Grab 10 Stamps and 10 Paper Strips and get stamping to 100!

You can use themed stamps to create many different crafts!
We’ll be making Valentine Cards, Family Mailbox and Valentine Patterns with these too!

We worked on learning the concept of 100 by grouping things into groups of 10. I had my daughter choose 10 different stamps and then she stamped them on 10 strips of paper to make a paper chain.

We practiced counting by ones and by tens to 100 as we created it and using the 100 Number Chart.

Here’s our finished project, she couldn’t wait to hang it up. On the back we have Happy Valentine’s Day too!

Making 100 using Base Ten Blocks

Base ten blocks are cool to begin with and a great way to show numbers in a concrete way! At our house, we have been working on building numbers from 0-100!  I’ve been trying to use our light box more and this was the perfect actvity.

We found a set of transparent pink and blue base ten blocks at a garage sale last year and were able to see them very clearly with our light box.

These are great because they connect together and form a 100 block, which we can stack on top of the pre-made hundred block to compare and then to count by 100’s. Isn’t math just exciting

100th Day of School Books

We had to read a few stories too about the 100th Day of School. Here are some of our favorites.

• The Night Before the 100th Day of School by Natasha Wing
• 100 School Days by Anne Rockwell
• Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the 100th Day of Kindergarten by Joseph Slate
• Miss Mingo and the 100th Day of School by Jamie Harper
• The 100th Day of School (Hello Reader!, Level 2) by Angela Shelf Medearis
• Rocket’s 100th Day of School (Step Into Reading, Step 1) by Tad Hills

Get more ideas with this 100th Day of School Activity with Water Beads

More Ideas for the 100th Day of School

• 100th Day Printable Activities from Mrs. Plant
• 100th Day of School from A Teacher Obsession
• 100 Day Pinterest Board and Song from Debbie Clement

You may also enjoy these activities for your child…

The birch trees in the background are so easy to make too. A winter art project your child will love to make.

Here’s how to make this winter birds art project…

Homemade Valentine’s Day Card

Here’s a fun project to make with the kids for Valentine’s Day or anytime to give a little sparkle to someone’s smile.  It incorporates several different art techniques all into one project too but can be done by multiple ages. A printable Valentine card is included too! Who’s heart will make sparkle?

“Tweet Tweet” You Make My Heart Sparkle Greeting Card  

Supplies:

To create your Winter Bird Card you will need the following Supplies

• White paper {for water coloring}
• Colored paper {Card}
• Watercolors
• Paintbrush
• White ink or paint
• Cotton Tip Swab
• Scissors
• Glue
• Glitter
• Crayons 

Winter Birds Art Project Directions

1. To start your card you need to have your child create a design with crayons on a white piece of paper.  Encourage them to make repetitive designs but any marks will do, perfect for little ones too!  

2. Then use water colors to paint over the crayon design and allow to dry.

3. Paint Birch Tree using black paint on stripes of white paper and allow to dry. 

4. Fold the colored paper in half to create a card to give to someone special.  Write inside a special note to someone you love.   A special message you may want to use is “ You Make My Heart Sparkle” (See below for the printable)  

5. Cut out shape for bird using a half circle, small beak, 4 hearts of similar size and a large heart and using glue assemble bird onto Colored paper. 

6. Then using glitter sprinkle onto the largest heart for the bird to hold. 

7. Once dry glue glitter heart onto page and draw string from bird’s mouth. 

8. Using white ink stamp all over the card to make the snow. 

9. Give your special winter bird to someone you love and make their heart SHINE this Valentine’s Day!  

FREE PRINTABLE Valentine Message

This Card was created for the 31 Days of Love Project at Red Ted Art

Want to share a little more love for winter birds? 

Check out our Bird Seed Heart Project for the 100th Day of School.

Or see check out another way to make the Winter Birch Trees here.

For more Homemade Valentine Card Ideas visit our 20 Valentine Card Ideas for School

For more ideas on how to Make a Greeting Card with Kids

• Blowing Kisses Handprint Card
• “LOVE” Heart Themed Valentine’s Day Card
• “Owl” Always Love you Card
• Sending “HOPE” Card 
• Penguin Bracelet Valentine Gift Idea 
• Handmade Valentine Butterfly Bookmarks 

Who will you send a little sparkle to this Valentine’s Day?

These small additions changed it from a form of entertainment to an educational activity that works for kids of all ages.

Why watch birds? It is a simple and fun way to learn about the world around you. Affiliate links.

What Children Learn at the Bird Watching Station

A bird watching station brings academics and life skills into one activity that can be re-visited year round, at any time of the day. Children may learn how to:

• Observe and record data.
• Pay close attention to detail.
• Compare and contrast.
• Use reference materials to identify species.
• Discuss findings with others.

How to Set Up the Feeder for the Educational Bird Watching Station.

The best placement for your bird feeder is more than 10 feet (15 feet is better) from any tree branch, house or other structure.  Low bushes provide birds a cover and protection.  

Place it within view of the window so kids can view the bird watching station from inside.

First, and most important, every bird watching station needs a bird feeder.

We have tried several kinds.  The simple wooden feeders are my favorite style, but the squirrels take a flying leap from our roof (10 feet away) and occasionally land on the platform. They have nearly destroyed the wood on the platform that holds the seeds.

The Squirrel Buster Wild Bird Feeder on the other hand, is very expensive. Just be warned. BUT, it is so worth the investment. We save lots of money on seeds and replacement bird feeders.

We use a mix of seeds, heavy on the sunflower seeds because we often have cardinals visit. If you truly enjoy bird watching, then this is the feeder for you. We loved it so much that we bought one for both my parents and my in-laws one Christmas. They all have raved about how wonderful it is (so it’s not just me.) Ours does have the weather guard, which is sold separately.

We also had a wire suet feeder, but the squirrels literally RAN AWAY with it this week. My parents use a large clip to hold theirs on, which is what we are going to resort to – once we get another one.

Every bird feeder needs some place to hang.

We use the squirrel baffle pole to hold up our feeders. It’s one more way to combat the squirrels getting up to the feeders from the pole.  My kids think its silly to see them climb up and try to get around it. We have not seen a squirrel successfully climb over the baffle in the 4 years we have had the pole. Set your feeder 15 feet from a tree or roof area if possible. This will also reduce the amount of squirrels.

Consider adding a place for birds to bath and drink.

We have a pedestal bird bath that was around $30. It’s light weight, holds water, and has held up ok. I did splurge and add in a solar fountain.  Right now, I’m not super impressed. It floats around even when I’ve tried to anchor it with rocks and only works in direct sunlight.

Totally not needed, but fun and a great springboard to discuss renewable energy options with your children.

You may even want to consider setting up a Hummingbird feed with this recipe for Homemade Hummingbird Food.

How to Set Up the Educational Part of the Bird Watching Station

Purchase a bird identification guide for your area.

First, purchase and add a bird guide to your bird watching station. You can check a few out from the library to see which one you like the best, but it is worth the investment to own one. Many of these guides are not written and published for children, rather bird watchers of all ages. 

Once you have purchased them, teach your kids how to use one based on how your specific book is organized. Learning to use a reference material is an important academic skill. Demonstrate how to find the size of the bird. The difference between the male and female and other features that can be helpful in identifying birds.

Adding this book will bring literacy (written text), math (size, number of eggs, days of incubation), science (comparison, adaptations, diet, migration patterns) and geography (map).

Learning to use a reference material is an important academic skill.

Include a set of binoculars for an up close look.

We have tried inexpensive plastic binoculars like this one. They really didn’t work well and broke soon after we received them. We’ve also tried the kid binoculars. They are much easier for little hands to manage. My parents gave us their old binoculars and the kids seem to enjoy using “real” tools.

We have helped them to learn how to focus for a clear picture.

Place in a basket or other container along with the book.

Don’t forget a ruler!

You would be surprised at how often the kids use it to help them figure out what bird is on the feeder. My children use the ruler most often to figure out which woodpecker comes to eat. They are all similar in colors and markings. The Downy Woodpecker is 6 inches and the Hairy is 9 inches.

I love looking over and seeing one of the kids holding up their ruler trying to decide which one it is!

A notepad or other journal may encourage kids to write down their observations.

I like to rotate between a plain notepad and an educational prompt, such as observe the feeder for 15 minutes. Record the number of birds you see every 5 minutes. Or a tally chart with some of the most common birds to frequent our feeders.

In the spring, you may also encourage the whole family to participate in the annual backyard bird count.

Kids need a place to sit.

Last, but not least, kids need a place to rest and observe. You may put some pillows on the floor, let them sit on kid chairs, or have a sofa nearby to lounge and observe. We have a set of poofs that came with a little table, making it the perfect set to have near the window.

This kid-friendly seating also doubles as a pretend café as it is next to our pretend kitchen area.

Having a place for children to sit invites them to observe more often.

Extend Your Bird Watching Station into Community Learning

• Visit the library and check out books on specific birds or birding stories.
• Visit a local zoo and focus your visit on their aviary.
• Watch a video or live webcam with a bird.
• Talk with a zoologist or other bird keeper about the diet and enrichment of birds in captivity.
• Visit a local pet store. Ask questions about the birds.  Compare the birds at the pet store with the birds in your backyard. How are the birds similar and different?

• Heart Themed Winter Birds Project
• 10 Reasons Why I Love Teaching My Kids About the Earth.
• Valentine Card Idea with Winter Birds

You may also enjoy these activities for your child…

Submit your bird numbers to The Great Backyard Bird Count.

The Great Backyard Bird Count

Participating is easy, fun to do alone or with others, and can be done anywhere you find birds.

Step 1: Decide where you will watch birds.

Step 2: Watch birds for 15 minutes or more, at least once over the four days, February 18-21, 2022.

Step 3: Count all the birds you see or hear within your planned time/location and use the best tool for sharing your bird sightings:

• If you are a beginning bird admirer and new to the count, try using the Merlin Bird ID app.
• If you have participated in the count before, try eBird Mobile app or enter your bird list on the eBird website (desktop/laptop).
• If you are participating as a group, see instructions for Group Counting.

Here are some great bird resources for your kids to enjoy too!

The Great Backyard Bird Count For Kids

Download the BirdSleuth Explorer’s Guidebook!

How many birds will you see during this year’s Great Backyard Bird Count?

Take a peek at the 20 Most Common Backyard Birds… do you see one?

Here are 50 Bird Species and the Sounds They Make

The annual birdwatching event will run from Feb 18-21.

Learn how you can be a community scientist and collect data to help protect birds and the places they need. https://birdcount.org #GBBC

Here’s one of the coolest interactive maps, which is on the Minnesota Conservation Volunteer magazine’s site. Simply click on a bird and hear their unique bird song.

Great Backyard Bird Count Activities for Kids 

• 8 Bird Activities for Babies, Toddlers and Preschoolers!
• Write with Birds from Nurture Store
• Birdhouse Garland from No Time for Flashcards 
• Rockin Robin Craft from Happy Hooligans 
• Terra Cotta Bird Bath from In Lieu of Preschool 
• Homemade Bird Treats from Coffee Cups and Crayons 
• Winter Bird Feeds from Fireflies and Mudpies
• Winter Birds Art Project
• How to Set Up a Bird Watching Station

Can you name the birds in this photo we’ve seen recently in our North Central Florida city?

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate Links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Bird Books for Kids

Here’s a collection of books to add to your fun during The great Backyard Count week with your child.

• Ruby’s Birds by Mya Thompson
• Bird Count by Susan Edwards Richmond
• Counting Birds: The Idea That Helped Save Our Feathered Friends by Heidi E.Y. Stemple
• Bird Boy (An Inclusive Children’s Book) by Matthew Burgess
• Bird Watch by Christie Matheson
• A Nest Is Noisy by Dianna Hutts Aston

• About Birds: A Guide for Children by Cathryn Sill
• Bird Builds a Nest: A First Science Storybook by Martin Jenkins
• Birds, Nests & Eggs by Mel Boring
• My Backyard Bird Book: Fun Facts & Surprising Secrets by Cheryl Johnson
• Most Popular Birds in North America: Bird Watching Guide for Kids by Nona Kid
• Mrs. Peanuckle’s Bird Alphabet by Mrs. Peanuckle

Looking for more ways to extend your learning with bids? Try these…

Here are six ideas for exploring nature with your baby.

Staying at Home is for the Birds

It’s not what you think, I LOVE staying at home with my baby.

It’s that very statement “I’m staying at home for the birds” that is the underlying reason I am at home with my children each day instead of working outside of the home. I want to experience those everyday learning moments with her.

Showing her all the elements of nature for the very first time. One of my daughter’s first signs was bird.

Can you tell what we spend a lot of time doing?

6 Ideas for Nature Activities with Babies

We spend some of our time going on adventures and seeing the world. I stay at home with my daughter so that I can share moments of her day talking with her about all the things she’s discovering in her environment. I love how babies get excited when they realize they are going outside for an adventure.

When my middle child was fussy as a baby all you had to do was step outside for a moment and the whole world changed and she was calm… it was like magic.

My youngest really enjoys dropping off big sister at school and watching all the big kids.

Take a Bird Walk with Your Baby

Go for a Walk

We go on walks in the backyard, in the front yard, in the neighborhood, at the store, at the mall, at the duck pond, at the park, at the zoo, and even at the library. It’s my job as her Mom and as her primary caregiver during the day to SHOW her EVERYTHING and TALK to her about EVERYTHING she’s observing and experiencing both inside and outside.

The photos above were taken this morning from our back porch with my daughter and I watching the brave birds and squirrels.

Set Up a Bird Feeder

We set out a bird feeder and bird bath outside our window too where she enjoys pulling up and standing at the window to watch the birds who come to visit our yard each day. She gets so excited to see the bird when they come. 

We like to sit on the back porch together and watch the birds come to the feeder too. They are very brave birds and let us watch, even though we’re not the quietest bird watchers. 

The neighborhood crows like to come and land on our fireplace and Caw across the field, it’s very loud down the chimney. 

It’s so cute she stops whatever she’s doing tells me that the Birds are here. Of course, it sounds more like buh buh buh when she tells me but because she also knows the sign for bird she uses that too.

Nature Walks Increase Language Skills for your Baby

Learn New Words

I encourage you to talk with your child using very detailed sentences about the things that your child is observing in their environment. I also encourage you to teach your child baby sign language, it is so much fun when they are able to sign things before they are able to say them, and opens a whole new world of communication with your child. 

Use it when you’re singing songs, they love it!

Baby Sign Language

Signing Time Word of the Week: Bird  This is our favorite Baby Sign Language Series.  Here are both a video clip and an image of how to sign “bird”. To sign the word “bird” put your thumb and index finger by your mouth, like a beak, and open it and few times.

Great Back Yard Bird Count

While you’re at it don’t forget to turn in your numbers for the Great Backyard Bird Count

There a section for older kids too if you haven’t checked it out!  If you missed it just remember next year in February! Here’s an adorable Bird Nest Craft from Tots Crafts to create with your toddlers and preschoolers as they join you on the walks from. 

You can take time with your older ones to Explore a Birds Next or even make your own Bird House by reusing containers.

Walk. Explore. Talk.

Go out and explore the outside with your baby! You can create a zoo within your own yard too. Click here to find out how. Make your walk a TALKING and DISCOVERING WALK!

Take time and enjoy these moments with your baby, it’s why you’re at home with them. You can give them more than anyone else in the world at this stage in life. Go outside and enjoy the birds.

I have experienced both many sides of being a Parent as a Working Parent and Stay at Home Parent and even a work from home parent with my 3 children. They ALL are equally IMPORTANT and rewarding.

You are your child’s first teacher and you know which is best for them and your family’s budget.

Enjoy your baby moments!

If you enjoyed this post for babies you might enjoy our other Baby Time Activity Ideas