nest-2 Materials: 

— Round tree trunk as base, or a paper plate

— Gather natural materials: sticks, leaves, grass, moss, pine needles, yarn

— Glue (optional to help hold nest together)

— Pencil

— Paper

Directions:

  1. Ask the students what they thinks goes into making a bird’s nest. Write the items down on a piece of paper.
  2. Take the children outside, either in the backyard or a neighborhood park, and start scavenging for the items mentioned. Encourage them to think about what in nature is pliable, what it is sturdy, and what a bird has access to out in the wild.
  3. Bring the items inside and place them on the paper plate or tree trunk base. Have them try to manipulate the grass and twigs and other items into a bird’s nest shape.
  4. Encourage them to weave items together, like the pine needles and grass. See if they can use just use two fingers, mimicking a bird’s beak, to get items to stick together.
  5. To take this activity a step further, check out some books at your local library about birds native to your area. See what kinds of things they use to build a nest and how they put them together. Talk about why they build them high up in a tree and whether that is a key element to keeping the nest together.
  6. Have your child display their nest outside in a tree. You never know, you might make a family of birds very happy to visit!

Big thanks to Education.com for the tutorial!