Bird Crafts

Last Friday, Noah and I went to the zoo with some friends.  It's not a big zoo by any means, so it doesn't have african lions, elephants, or giraffes (yet).  We still manage to have lots of fun by going on the train, carousel, and feeding the goats and birds!  This was our second time feeding the birds.  Noah held the stick to feed the birds on the ground as long as I stayed super close by.  He was not willing to hold the stick in the air and let the bird climb right on top, but he sure was excited to watch me do it!  And while I didn't get any pictures of them, we also saw 2 peacocks just walking around.  I figured since we just saw them in person, it would be fun to make a few bird related crafts!

The first craft we did was painting a bird house with daddy over the weekend.  Noah had fun painting a treasure chest at a birthday party, so I picked up this wooden bird house at Michaels thinking Noah would enjoy painting it as well.  I took out a bunch of paints and brushes and let him pick what color to paint the house.  He really enjoyed picking a new color for each side :)

smock

The next craft we did was a paper plate peacock.  I found the idea here, and hers turned out WAY better!  If you want full instructions, I suggest visiting her blog ;)  Regardless, Noah loved painting the peacock, so it was a win in my book.  

^^^ realizing I was sitting on the wrong side for a lefty and righty to paint in harmony ;)

Finally, we made this little bird nest craft.  It was super simple.  I just cut a nest out of brown construction paper.  Then using a small dixie cup I cut out 4 small circles (in 2 different colors for our 2 birds).  I also folded a small piece of orange paper and then cut two "v's" to make the beaks.  Then I just cut a bunch of pieces of brown yarn (for the twigs) and picked out a few small feathers.  Then it was all about using some glue to assemble the birds.  Noah and I worked together on this craft.  He would glue some parts while I would apply the glue for the smaller parts like the eyes and beaks.  

Once again, we had a lot of fun doing some super simple crafts.  These really are crafts all of you could do at home... trust me when I say that we don't attempt to do anything difficult! 

As usual, I'm linking up with Jess for "It's the Little Things" link up!  

Oh Hey, Friday | Learning about Zoo Animals

I mentioned last week that I'm doing an informal "Toddler Preschool" with Noah.  Last week we learned about "Fall" and this week we focused on "Zoo Animals".  Here are some of the things we did with Noah...  

One - Trip to the Zoo

Last Friday, we took Noah to the zoo.  I think "field trips" are key to helping a child learn.  When a kid is having fun and having real life experiences, they are more apt to learn.  

Two - Animal Water Play

I'm all about the sensory bins for little kids.  I found this link of Pinterest about Zoo Sensory Play.  Originally I planned to do this in the bathtub.  But we were at my parents, and they have a toy of A-Z Zoo Animals.  Noah loves playing in my parents' kitchen sink, so I brought all the animals from the toy and let him wash them in the sink.  He (with my dad's help) washed them, rinsed them, and then put them on the drying mat.  He had so much fun and it kept him entertained for at least 20 minutes!

Three - Bubble Guppies Zoo Episode & Books

We are not one of those families that is against TV.  I think that it's another great resource to help with learning.  Noah watches Sesame Street and Bubble Guppies.  One of the things I love about Bubble Guppies is that each episode has a theme so you are learning something new while enjoying the catchy songs and cute stories.   This week we watched "The Lonely Rhino" which is specifically about the zoo and "The Elephant Trunk-a-Dunk" which is all about elephants.  

We also love to read... before bed and just in general.  Here are a few of our favorite zoo books:

Giraffes Can't Dance

Peek-a-Zoo

Goodnight Gorilla

Four - Songs

Noah loves music and I think it's a fun addition to our day.  My parents' were singing this song to Noah when we went to our local zoo, so I looked up the lyrics for the entire song.  We just sing the chorus :)

Going To The Zoo (Preschool Song)

We’re going to the zoo, zoo, zoo;
How about you, you, you?
You can come too, too, too.
We’re going to the zoo, zoo, zoo.

Five - Puzzles

Noah has gotten really good at doing puzzles.  I love that it not only helps with their fine motor skills, but you can use it as a jumping off point to teach so many other things.  We have two puzzles with zoo animals.  He would pick up the elephant from one puzzle and show me that it was just like the elephant in the other puzzle.  I would ask him where an animal was and he would show it to me.  If the animal makes a noise I would either ask him what it makes or I would make the sound and he would repeat it.  

I'm linking up with The Farmer's Wife and September Farm for "Oh Hey Friday"

It's The Little Things | Going to the Zoo!

On Friday, Chris took of work and we went to the Bronx Zoo.  Be prepared for lots of pictures!  Chris got free tickets to go and we were excited to finally use them.  They were general admission tickets and we ended up upgrading to the total access pass since a bunch of the exhibits were not included with general admission.  We arrived shortly after the zoo opened and were surprised that it wasn't busy at all.  It was cool enough that we needed to wear our sweaters (except for Chris who never wears a sweater!).  I love going to the zoo in this kind of weather because it means the zoo doesn't smell as much and the animals are out walking around instead of sleeping in a corner!  

First we walked through "Africa" on our way to the Asian Monorail.  I had done some research online before our trip and knew I wanted to take the monorail.  It's one of the things you pay extra for unless you have the total access pass, but I knew that Noah would love going on a "train".  It's also the only way you can see the elephants (my favorite!).  

After the monorail, we went into the Jungle Experience.  Before leaving for the zoo, we told Noah he could pick out a toy animal to bring with him.  He chose this toy turtle that my parents bought him when we went to the Turtle Back Zoo.  He carried it around the entire trip!  He was super excited when we saw some turtles and liked comparing his toy to the real thing!

We then stopped to get some lunch.  I have to admit it was pretty good for zoo food.  No finished his fries on the go, and even tried to offer a few to some of the animals ;)

A highlight for me was seeing the lions and giraffes.  I was a little bummed that there wasn't a male lion out... I'm not sure if Noah knew these were lions since they don't look like the pictures he normally sees.  I also felt bad for the giraffe that was inside... not sure why they did that?

Next, we stopped at the bug carousel.  This was another attraction that normally you pay as you go, but with our upgraded total access passes, we got to have unlimited rides!  I think we went around 4 times :)

At this point it was getting close to Noah's nap time, so we said we'd look at a few more animals and head home.  But Noah was in such a good mood and having so much fun that we ended up seeing a lot more!  Once again he loved the turtles!

We then stopped by the Tiger exhibit... it was so cool!  There were three that were super close to the viewing area and when we first arrived two of them were playing/fighting right near us!

^^^ Doesn't it look like the tiger is walking right past Noah???  Thank goodness for the glass wall!

 ^^^ No visit to the zoo would be complete without some ice cream... and of course Noah had to share with his turtle!

^^^ This tortoise is 100 years old!

The last exhibit we went to was the petting zoo.  It will be part of the new Children's Zoo that will open soon.  They had a preview of it when we went.  Noah got a little scared since the animals were pretty loud and got really close to the fence, but it was still a fun time.  

We ended our day with a trip to the gift shop where Noah picked out three little stuffed animals... an elephant, a tiger, and another turtle!  He then passed out immediately in the car!

Make sure to stop by Jess and Ashley's blogs for the link up!