Feed the Birds... (Pincone Birdfeeder)

tuppence a bag, tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag...

I apologize. It's just that I've had that song in my head ALL DAY!

This week's lesson was all about forest animals and their habitats.  We read about bears, owls, skunks, raccoons, beavers...you name it!

To cap off the week, we watched a Wild Kratts video about squirrels and blue jays- check it out on youtube:

At the very end of the video, the Kratt brothers teach about how to make a birdfeeder.  That gave me the idea to make our own pinecone birdfeeders! #keepcalmandpretenditsonthelessonplan

So I headed to almighty Pinterest to find a craft for my class.  A few clicks later and voila!

Source: My Blessed Life  (Ours didn't look that profesional!)

On my way to school (which is when I get all my best ideas) I decided to turn this activity into less of a review on habitats but more of a lesson on sequencing.  The students in my 1st grade class are fairly proficient in reading and writing, but need a lot of work on fluent speaking.  Scroll to the bottom to see the freebie I used!

To make pinecone birdfeeders, you'll need the following: pinecones, twine or string, peanut butter/almond butter, and birdseed.  I also grabbed some plastic utensils from my drawer to make spreading easier.

I tied the twine around each pine cone, then let the girls at it with the almond butter and peanut butter.  We started off using plastic spoons, but that didn't work so well.  After a mini mini lesson on being safe with a knife, I let them use the plastic knives. 

Once they slathered on the butter, we dipped each pine cone into a cup full of birdseed and twirled it around.  That was an easy and non-messy way to do it- you dip it just like you would a chocolate covered pretzel.  

Cute, right?

The girls were so proud of their creations.  We put our jackets on and headed out to hang them up. 

Each kid got to pick a branch for their feeder.  The delight of choosing one's own branch was almost too much to handle.

When we came in, we went right to the window in the hallway to watch the birds swoop to the feeders.  I had to pry them away from the window- I promised that we'd be back at that window on Monday to watch the birds.    Aren't they adorable?!

Once back in the classroom we talked about the importance of animals in our environment, when to help them, and when to stay away.  To sum it all up, we used my sequencing freebie and each girl took a part to explain.  Click the picture below to grab it from TPT!

 This was such an easy and fun lesson- perfect for a Friday.  Have you ever made bird feeders with your class? Have a great weekend!