How To Introduct Children To Birding
As a teacher and mom, I spent a lot of time introducing children to a variety of new things and experiences. Here are a few things I did to encourage the kids and birds to stay on friendly terms. Do these activities with your kids and they will be singing your praises along with the birds.
Sometimes it can be next to impossible to get a kid to be quiet. As with all wild animals (the birds, not the kids) the louder a noise is the more frightened they are. It’s important that the kids use what teachers call their “inside or hiding” voice while watching birds. It’s also important that kids move slowly, like in some of the games they play at school. Have the kids to pretend to be a mouse (quiet as a mouse) and move like a turtle. Both are good practice for birdwatching. If done right, it can even be used as a warm-up game before settling in to watch.
If most of your birds are in the trees or bushes, you might need to lure them a bit closer before you can really start watching them. Put up a few birdfeeders in different areas so that you have a good view. By good view, I mean fairly close to a window, hammock, backyard chair, sandbox, etc. Any place that is just far enough away to allow the birds to feel comfy but is still close enough to sit and watch them. You may have to move the feeder several times to find just the right spot.
I like using platform/table feeders with kids since they are easy to make and handle. You can just throw the food on the tray and that’s it. Platform feeders can be made out of almost anything. Kids absolutely love running around the house to look for things you may already have on hand and can serve double duty as a feeder tray. Imagination is a wonderful thing!
When doing home repairs, if you have some window screen left over, make it into a birdfeeder! Just get some wood, tree limbs if you like, form a frame, and carefully staple the screen to the wood so that the screen and staples can’t stick the kids or birds. Throw some frozen suit or cornbread into the tray you just made and sit back to watch.
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Have fun and be sure to check out the “reminder” items to help everyone remember “the time when we fed the birds.” Here is one of our designs that will encourage your kids to continue backyard birding. You can see this same design on other products in our shop by clicking on the link below.
I Feed Birds! -Infant/Toddler T-Shirt
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