Learning about birds investigation table

You might set up the table yourself to get things started, but it’s always best to involve your children in gathering the materials. Once you’ve introduced the idea you might find they start to set up investigation displays of their own and invite you to come and have a look!

 

For a bird investigation table you might set out:

:: pictures of birds, both ones you see locally and exotic ones. You might use your own photographs, prints, postcards, cuttings from magazines, your own bird crafts, or the printable bird puppets that you’ll find in the Eggs and birds Unit

:: a bird ID book

:: a bird magazine – the RSPB have versions for younger children and teenagers

:: eggs – plastic and toys ones are easy to get hold of and let children handle them easily. You could also have a hen or duck egg to look at. (Don’t take any eggs from the wild.)

:: a nest – you can find nest decorations in lots of shops around Easter time. Although it’s wonderful to see a real nest, I would never take one from the wild. Even if it looks abandoned it may be used in the following year, so best to just use eyes to look at a wild nest – you could get a closer look with binoculars – and have a pretend nest for your children to handle, or watch this video

 

 

:: toy / model birds

:: a selection of nest-building materials such as twigs, moss and grass

:: a selection of feathers, gathered on your nature walks

:: a magnifying glass to look up-close at your finds

:: paper, pens, and paints so you can make notes and sketches of what you find – and the questions you are wondering about – to go in your nature journals