Earth Day Everyday

Earth Day kind of snuck up on me after all of our Easter festivities so I whipped up a quick, easy, and cheap activity for Sean and then headed on out to enjoy the great outdoors.

I have made these bird feeders a dozen times with previous classes and Girl Scout troops and they can be adapted based on supplies you have on hand. Instead of bird seed you could use a plain dry cereal like cheerios, croutons, or diced fruit.

I used toilet paper rolls that I keep for random crafts as the base, but you could also use a pinecone or rolled up newspaper. I pressed the roll together and used a hole punch to make 2 holes on opposite ends of the roll (for better stability when hanging) and then let Sean thread a piece of natural raffia twine through both holes. This is great fine motor practice! Then simply tie a knot or bow at the top.

 

 

 

I gave Sean a decent sized blob of peanut butter, a butter knife and spoon to spread, and the toilet paper rolls. Of course he took a few tastes for himself! When the rolls were covered in peanut butter, Sean rolled each one in a tray (dollar tree party purchase) of bird seed ($5 bag from Walmart). See, easy right?

Sean chose to hang 2 in our own backyard so we could see the birds from our kitchen window, and we took the other 2 out to a park. While hiking a trail Sean hung 1 more of the feeders and hung the last one on a tree at the playground after our picnic lunch.

 

 

Having a childhood spent navigating trails, scavenging for leaves and rocks, playing in water, listening to bird calls, and feeding the ducks is important to me for my kids. We get outside as often as we can whether it is hot or cold, rainy or sunny, snowy or windy. So many kids of this generation are cooped up inside on some kind of screen all day and are missing out on all the wonders to be explored outside. Most of my favorite childhood memories were those of my sisters and me hanging outside finding things to get into together.

 

“Education is a natural process carried out by the human individual, and is acquired not by listening to words, but by experiences in the environment.”- Maria Montessori