From animals that swim, we moved on to the Bird Theme.
Owl
Owls are well-loved by children, presumably because it is easy to find lovely stories on them.
We borrowed the Owl Babies by Martin Waddell* from the library which happened to be one of the books used by my P2 girl for her Stellar Thematic learning in school.
This book is well-liked by my children. It is about 3 owl babies who were left alone at home and feeling worried while their mummy went hunting for food. The tots read this book repeatedly, probably resonated with the babies’ plight as I left home for errands from time to time too.
Borrowed some images as below as I forgot to take photos on my owl.
The owl craftwork we did was too complicated for the tots. Nonetheless, they attempted to glue some of the body parts such as the wings, beaks and eyes by themselves.
Chicken
The tots see the chickens and roosters often in the park near where we live. We also happened to visit PB Valley in Khao Yai in the same month, that houses a large number of them. Click here for our experience there.
Life Cycle of a Chicken
Never underestimate the little ones’ ability to understand concepts. We read a book on the life cycle of a chicken, watched a short youtube video on it, and they were ready to make a simple life cycle of a chicken chart.
My chart was super simple to give the little ones an overview of the lifecycle without boring them with the details. I invited them to do up the table together, and it became fun for them.
Counting Activity
Since I already brought out the stamps, it was an excellent opportunity to get on with some counting activities. The stamp set from Melissa and Doug* is great for creativity and the wooden handles are easy for the little ones to hold on too. But I had an issue with the stamp pad that came along with it. As you can see in the photo below, the ink is rather faint, and I have to look for a separate ink pad with washable ink* for the kiddos.
Duck
I also let the tots decide which coloured paper to use for the duck, the background and the pond. They attempted cutting out the duck’s body and glued most of the body parts together.
We also attempted a simple farm scene using just the chickens and the ducks. The intention here is for the tots to try differentiating the ducks from the chickens, as well as to highlight the duck’s ability to swim. Nothing too elaborate. As expected, the tots played with this for a few minutes and ran away for something else.
Penguin
The penguin is my little girl’s favourite. We revisited this adorable animal after covering it under the “Animals That Swim” Theme.
The “Grumpy Pants“* storybook is my little one’s favourite and recommended by our library’s storyteller. The grumpy penguin started his day feeling grouchy and tried all sorts of ways to make himself feel better. His expression changed for the better as you turn the pages, until when he shook off his mad mood with a bubbly bath, and he felt better again.
Hornbill
We see the hornbill often enough for the kids to be able to recognise it quickly. However, we struggled with locating a book on hornbill from our local library that is appropriate for the little ones.
There is also nothing on Pinterest relating to hornbill craftwork. So in the end, we had to refer to something similar, that is the toucan, to create a hornbill craft.
Bald Eagle
While carrying out this bald eagle craft with the tots over 2 days, I made an observation that I thought was interesting. The little ones weren’t interested in the eagle, not on the first day when we made the frame, nor on the second day we pasted “feathers” on its wings.
I reckoned this is due to their little experience with the bald eagle. We read a book on the eagle, watch a youtube video and visited the bird park previously to catch a glimpse of the magnificent bird standing high up in its cage. But they did not establish any familiarity with the animal. They saw no eagle in Lion Guard, Peppa Pig nor the Paw Patrol show. I guess they really found it hard to relate.
A few good reads
We borrowed a stack of books, and these are the few that we liked better.
Owl babies* – One of my tots’ favourite books, and we read this countless times.
Nest* – A remarkable almost wordless book on the life cycle of a bird. There are so many ways we can tell a story using a wordless book. After a while, I got the tots to try telling a story too!
Grumpy Pants* – On a penguin who woke up grouchy one morning, and how he tried making himself feel better. A splendid example to demonstrate to a child how he can try to regulate his own emotions.
Birds by Carme Lemniscates – A gorgeous masterpiece that presents different birds to the young readers and invites them to appreciate the birds around them.
Hello World on Birds by Jill MacDonald* – One of our favourite toddler books which we bought a year ago. Beautiful illustrations to introduce the little ones to the world of birds.
Ducklings by Julie Murray – The book covers the life of a duckling in simple sentences, and filled with bright and colourful photos.
Other fact books that are straight to the point in simple sentences and clear photos.
Hope I have shared something useful here.
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Hi Melissa. Sorry I haven’t stopped by for a while. Your girls are getting so big and beautiful. Homeschooling sounds like so much fun.
Thank you for your kind comments! Your farm will be a perfect place for homeschooling. There is so much to learn from you and everything else there!