Big Schools' Birdwatch
A selection of resources which link to birds. Why not go bird spotting in your local area, carry out a survey on birds, use paper folding to create bird models, think about the materials bird use to make their nests or even make some bird feeders. Lots of ideas and activities to help support learning about our feathered friends.
RSPB Big Schools' Birdwatch - RSPB resources
A treasure chest of designed to support the RSPB Big Schools Birdwatch. These include:
Identification sheets to help you carry out a survey on birds in your local area.
Storybook presentations on ‘Bouncy Blackbird’ and ‘Cheeky Sparrow’which look at beak type and food preference of different birds and could lead to further investigations.
Instructions for making bird feeders for different birds.
Cut and fold templates to make ‘bird snappers’ for thirteen different birds.
Games which support the identification of birds.
Bird Watching in Schools
This video follows two schools as they take part in the RSPB's Big Schools' Birdwatch. It shows children engaged with the activities provided in the first resource, so will give you an idea of what to expect!
British Birds
This video introduces fifteen British birds that children are most likely to see in the UK. It explains how to identify them by their size, shape, colour, habitat, behaviour and sounds.
Try breaking it down into short sections and ask children to draw or note the features and characteristics of each bird.
Birds’ Nests
An older resource designed for younger children, it shows the different places that different birds build their nests. Perhaps a useful starting point for developing thinking about:
why they might build them in particular places?
the materials they build them from?
the different designs of nest?
Also may help with identification birds.
Finding Food
Investigations look at food preferences in birds, finding prey and finding food for offspring, and lead into many follow on investigations. Practical activities on:
• feeding relationships
• how birds feed and find their food
• how animals get their food
• how to avoid being eaten
• humans and food
Battle of the Beaks
This practical activity explores beak adaptations in bird populations and looks at the way in which variation in beak shape is related to the available food sources within an environment. Children simulate beak shape using different euipment and try and pick up various types of food.
