In the screen-based world of today, providing your child with the opportunity to learn about nature has never been more important.
One of the easiest ways to help your child appreciate nature is by hanging wild bird feeders in your 
yard. Hanging the feeder where you can see it from a window is ideal. It gives you the chance to talk about the birds. And there’s plenty to talk about. There’s also plenty of fun stuff to do that helps your child learn about nature and birds.
Wild Bird Feeders Mean Bird Fun
Observing and discussing with your child the birds you see at your feeder can lead to some interesting conversation. There are plenty of bird-centered, fun activities you can do with your child. Here are some ideas to get the wild bird fun started:
- Discuss what the birds are doing and why. You’ll be amazed at how your child interrupts bird behavior. Try asking some open-ended questions, such as “what do you think that bird is thinking?” or “why do you think the bird is doing that?”
- Keep a bird book nearby. See if you can figure out which species are at your wild bird feeders. There are even some cool smartphone applications that include recordings of birdcalls.
- Make a bird checklist.
Make a list or print out some pictures of common birds in your area. Each time you see a bird, cross it off the list. Make it even more fun by turning it into Bird Bingo. Or, provide your child with several black and white images of the common birds; when they see a bird, they can color the picture in. - Keep a bird journal. Encourage your child to draw pictures of the birds they see. Have them include notes of how the bird acted, what it was doing, how long it stayed, etc.
- Record bird data. Keep a record of how many birds you see on average, each day. Make a note of weather conditions, birdseed used, etc. Based on your observations, determine if a correlation can be made.
- Establish a “goal” bird. This is a bird you have in your area, but have not seen in your yard. For instance, if orioles are common to your area, decide to make the oriole your “goal bird”. Get an oriole feeder, learn about what attracts them and celebrate when you finally see one.
- Make your own bird food together. There are many easy recipes for bird food available on the internet. This activity is great because the children get to see the birds enjoying the food they made.
- Build a wild bird feeder together. These can be easy to make using inexpensive materials, such as a milk jug.
- Give your child a pair of binoculars.
Now’s your chance to teach your child how to use and care for the binoculars. Keep them special by establishing a rule they can only be used while bird watching and not played with like a regular toy. - Gather and submit data on the birds you observe to a national or local bird count.
Look online for a bird count project. Submitting data to a real organization can be a good motivator for kids. - Learn about your state bird.
Become experts on your state bird, from what it looks like to why it was chosen. - Have your child take photos of the birds. Taking photos of birds is a great way to mix two hobbies…and even gain new skill sets. Encourage your child to choose the best pictures and share with others.. Prints can be used in a variety of ways: make a note of the bird and date on the back, punch a hole in the photo and use them as ornaments to decorate a tree during the holidays; use them as flash cards; make a memory game out of them … the sky is the limit!
Michelle Anderson contributed this guest post. Passionate about all things birds, she likes writing about wild bird feeders, including squirrel proof birdfeeders.