Welcome back to the Forest School Blog…
Last week we observed The annual Big Garden Birdwatch (24th–26th January 2025), across all three sites. Take a look at what we got up to …
Across all three sites the children decorated their DIY binoculars, which were made out of paper cups. The children stuck leaves and sticks on the outside of their binoculars and used them to bird watch. We spotted wood pigeons, crows, magpies and blue tits! If you’d like to have a go at this at home, get two paper cups, cut out the bottom, staple them together and then use glue or paper tape to stick their natural decorations on the outside (leaves, bark, twigs etc.).
Some of the children also played Bird Snap! They used their A6 bird identification cards to play a game of snap, matching the identical species. The children were starting to identify the birds by colour, markings and size. You can download the PDF below; why not get the whole family involved. Simply print out 2 copies of the cards, cut them out and enjoy many rounds of snap. They can even be used to create a treasure hunt around the house or the garden!
The children also made their very own bird’s nest out of sticks, twigs, leaves and dry grass. This can be extended at home by decorating stones with paint or markers to mimic bird’s eggs and foraging for different types of bird feathers.
The final activity that the children engaged in was creating food for the birds. Using our seed mix from PeckAMix we got the children to identify different types of seeds and practice their pincer grip by pushing sunflower seeds into an apple for the birds to peck out.
Another gentle reminder … The weather has been significantly cold and temperatures are dropping very low, it is imperative that all children have waterproofs, coats, gloves and hats, especially on Forest School days to ensure that they are safe and can enjoy their sessions outdoors.
