In this game you become a Black Capped Chickadee, hiding seeds for winter! After the game is over, the learning continues by seeing which creatures find your caches first. Created be Lauren Theis, Director of Education
Level: pre-K, Elementary
Duration: 20-30 minutes
Setting: Your backyard
Materials:
- 20 Sunflower Seeds per child
The Activity:
- Give each child a small bag of 20 sunflower seeds. Explain that they will be Chickadees hiding food for the winter!
- Designate an area for them to hide their seeds, you may want to use landmarks as boundaries (such as from here to the old oak tree!).
- Have children hide small groups of seeds (2-3 seeds per spot). Make sure they hide them “above the snow line,” since in winter the Chickadees wouldn’t be able to find seeds on the ground after a snow.
- After they’ve hid all their seeds, see if they can list all the places they hid their seeds. Can they remember all of them?
Follow Up:
- Keep the list and check to see if any seeds disappear. What other animals might be taking the seeds?
- Can you observe any creatures eating the seeds you hid?
Journal Activity: Pretend you are a bird and draw a map in your journal of what your home “territory” looks like. Where are you in the morning, afternoon, and at night? How do you get food? Where will you sleep? How do you observe the creatures around you?
Sources:
Birds on the Wing, Nearby Nature https://nearbynature.fwni.org/
How did you like this activity? Please share any questions, comments, or photos that you and your child have on the Raritan Headwaters Learning Community Facebook Page!
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