Bird's Nests
Materials:
- Nesting Materials: Yarn, paper scraps, leaves,
- grass, sticks, cotton balls, dryer lint, etc.
- A brown paper lunch sack
- Newspaper or a plastic tabletcloth
- Mud
- A gardening spade or plastic toy shovel
- A bowl or bucket
- Plastic gloves
- Scissors
- Binoculars (Optional)
Directions:
- Have each child hunt around the house and yard for Nesting materials.
- Next send each child outside to gather up a bunch of mud and dirt. If it hasn't rained, scoop up some dirt and add water to it.
- Dump all supplies on ground outside or if working inside, on a plastic tablecloth lined table.
- Trim a brown paper lunch sack down by about a third.
- Help children roll the sides of the paper bag all the way down to creat a shallow bowl.
- Have each child cover the bag with a layer of mud.
- Pack the nesting supplies into the mud.
- Continue adding more mud, then more nesting supplies, etc., until you have built a strong nest.
- Finally, line the inside of the nest with some soft material like yarn, fabric scraps or a layer of fluffed-out cotton balls.
- When dry, help children carefully place the nest up in a tree or on a windowsill.
- Children can look in on nest every once in a while with a pair of binoculars.
Source:
adapted from www.parentsconnect.com