Birds, Binoculars & Breakfast Trail Mix

Rebecca from Cooking With My Kid is here to share a fantastic field guide for an activity that your lil’ one is sure to love. Take it away Rebecca!…

This morning I surprised my kid with an indoor bird watching expedition complete with make-your-own binoculars and breakfast trail mix. He’s been talking about it all day long.

The bird watching expedition starts with our special breakfast trail mix which we take along while we search for birds throughout the house using our home made binoculars.

My kid uses the Bird Watching Guide I created to find each of the birds hidden throughout the house. Once he’s identified and found a bird, he circles it on the guide and heads off to look for the next.

Click here to learn how to set up a bird watching expedition in your own home…

And don’t forget! Leave a comment on this or any post this week and you might win the Wool-Blend Felt pictured up there on the left. The Season of Cozy is upon us!

1. Bird Watching Preparation
While your kid is still sleeping you’ll need to prep for the expedition by making the trail mix and printing the Bird Cutouts directly from the box below.
Bird Cutouts

Cut each of the birds out. They don’t need to be perfect.

Roll a piece of tape to place on the back of each of the bird cut outs.

Hang the birds throughout your home. Make some hard to find and others easy.

2. Bird Watching Guide
Next you’ll want to print out the bird watching guide and locate a pen or marker for your kid to use while looking for birds. Print directly from the box below.
Bird Watching Guide

3. Binocular Prep
Here’s a list of what you’ll need to put together the binoculars.
– 2 toilet paper tubes or 1 paper towel tube cut in 1/2
– 1 piece of construction paper
– scissors
– hole punch
– stickers
– tape
– ribbon or string

4. Making the Binoculars
Set out all the binocular materials and guide your kid through the following steps.

Fold the construction paper in half lengthwise.

Cut the paper along the fold.

Now fold that piece in half.

And cut it at the fold to form two equal sized pieces.

Wrap the pieces around your toilet paper rolls and affix with tape.

Fold the extra construction paper in towards the center of the roll.

Repeat all the above steps on the second roll and then tape the two rolls together at the top and bottom of the rolls.

Decorate the tubes with stickers.

Use your hole punch to punch a hole in either side of the tubes.

Tie a piece of ribbon or string to either side of the binoculars. Length of ribbon depends on the size of your kid. Since it involves string, you should not leave your kid unattended with these binoculars around his/her neck.

Your binoculars are now finished!

5. Time to Bird Watch!
Let your kid put the binoculars on, give him the bird guide and pack a back with trail mix for him to take on his expedition.

Remind him to circle each of the birds that he finds on his Bird Watching Guide.

When you are finished bird watching, remove the birds from the wall. Remove the tape from the back of the birds and store them in a drawer. This game can be played over and over. You can hang the birds in different places each time and make them increasingly more difficult to be found. Hope you have as much fun as we did!

Bird Watching Trail Mix
Bird watching starts with a yummy breakfast trail mix that’s perfect for taking along on the expedition but is also great for taking on a trip. (We like to take it on the plane!) Visit Cooking With My Kid for the Breakfast Trail Mix Recipe.


Thanks Rebecca! We just love this project!

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17 Comments

Melissa

This is so cute! I don't know if it ever gets "cozy" in Phx, AZ…maybe we just don't sweat ourselves a bra every day of the year? We can always hope to put a lightweight comforter on our bed….:)

Reply
Roxane

That's a hoot! My daughter's preschool class did something similar last year, though they went whale watching, rather than bird watching. If the kids enjoy this one, follow it up with whales!

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Scooter Couple

Where did you get the Chinese takeout container? Those would be great to take along on picnics.

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Genevieve

I LOVE THIS! This will be my first year homeschooling so I have been searching the net for things til my eyelids rub my eyeballs raw. This will be a perfect adventure for my girls. I might try to make up an underwater adventure as well. Thanks for sharing this! đŸ™‚

Reply
Jennie

Ooooh, it's a nasty, mucky day outside and I was wondering what to do with my kids this morning! I think we'll take a stab at this! Brilliant idea! Thanks for sharing!

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*carrie*

My 3yo son already has binoculars, and loves watching for birds. It's been too hot and humid to play outside, so this is brilliant. Thank you for sharing!

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Martie

Kids love to look for things with their binoculars! You can hunt for anything! Letters, numbers, colors, shapes. The colors and shapes don't need any pre-planning, just go house hunting! When your child is old enough to look for numbers in order, take a walk down the street and look at mailboxes! PS It is most fun for kids when Mom and Dad have their binoculars too! Have a blast!

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Mamawana

Love this idea! I’m hosting a kids bird day soon, and would love to incorporate these activities. I’ve been trying to print the bird cutouts and guide, with no success. When I try to download, a screen pops up that wants me to purchase Scribd subscription. And the sizes are wrong when I try to print from your blog. Please help!!

Reply
Lucinda

I do not know if it’s just me or if everyone else encountering
problems with your blog. It looks like some of the written text on your posts are running off the screen.
Can someone else please comment and let me know if this is happening to them too?
This could be a issue with my web browser because I’ve
had this happen before. Thanks

Reply

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