Big Garden Bird Watch is upon us again!
I would love to sit here and tell you that we have always had a keen interest in birds and bird watching but the honest truth is we haven't. We both knew the common ones, like Robin and Pigeon, but that was as far as our knowledge of birds went. Until...our boys!
The Bees absolutely love spotting birds and watching them swoop down to peck from the feeder or ground. Children seem to just embraced anything and everything in nature and birds is definitely one of them.
I first began to add 'birds' to our theme area several years ago - it started with a couple of books and a soft toy that we had lurking about. Now, we have a big box full of bird related play and I keep finding new things every year. My friend recently asked, 'why I had collected so much for just one week a year?'. Well, we actually get the box out about 4 or 5 times a year - the boys might see a new bird whilst out walking and ask if we can change the area to 'birds'. So, out it comes again.
Our theme area: Birds ready for the Big Garden Bird Watch, 2022.
The beautiful plush birds are from the RSPB and all have authentic bird calls. I have slowly treated the boys (and myself) to new ones each year. Listen to the Birds by Marion Billet and The National Trust: Bird Spotter are two fantastic books that we sell on our website. The Listen to the Birds books also has authentic bird calls and bright illustrations - it is the perfect book for babies and toddlers to learn about common birds. The Bird spotter book is another amazing publication from the National Trust and Nosy Crow - if you have ever read one of their books then you'll know how child-friendly and well written they are!
In front, I put out some homemade playdough (lemon scented) and some bird cookie cutters (Guardini). I found the cutters on a website last year and added them to the box. I choose yellow because Little Bee has been carrying the Golden Oriole around with him.
In the next photo you can see our homemade craft binoculars; Rex of London Binoculars (sold on our website); a bowl of bird seed - I always like to try and have some sensory bits for Little Bee to explore and Nature sticker book by National Trust (sold on our website).
Some of the other items shown are:
The Owl Babies by Martin Waddell
Wooden bird buttons (purchased from ebay)
The Aviary by Matt Merritt (borrowed from our local library)
The Bird Atlas by Barbara Taylor (borrowed from our local library)
Bee A Little Wild: Bird learning cards (https://www.beeutifultoys.com/product-page/uk-birds-flashcards)
Recently, our nephew has become fascinated with birds of prey; this has resulted in Big Bee asking questions about Falcons, Hawks, and kestrel etc. So, I suspect that our beautiful collection of 'bird' related items may expand even further next year!
Wishing you all a wonderful week bird watching. Thank you for reading my latest blog!
You can find all of the items from our own website here: https://www.beeutifultoys.com/birdwatching