Montessori Inspired Bird Lesson
Lessons from the Birds
Maria Montessori taught us to learn from nature, our teacher with the ability to inspire within us a fundamental love for learning.
Inspired by nature and the abundance of native birds, I have come up with the following ideas for a few bird related, Montessori style activities. Please feel free to use these ideas as they are, or change them up a bit to make them your own. Maria Montessori taught us to learn from nature, our teacher with the ability to inspire within us a fundamental love for learning.
“What is a scientist? We give the name scientist to the type of man who has felt experiment to be a means guiding him to search out the deep truth of life, to lift a veil from its fascinating secrets, and who, in this pursuit, has felt arising within him a love for the mysteries of nature, so passionate as to annihilate the thought of himself.” ~Maria Montessori
Sorting
Developing Fine Motor Skills
Starting with the fine motor skill developing practice of using tweezers, create this activity with birdseed mix. Children can spread a small amount of mixed seed onto a tray. Then use tweezers to sort the different types of seed into separate cups.
Pouring
Practical Life: Care of the Environment and Pouring
Next, the children can take the seeds outdoors and spread them on the ground, along a fence, in plants, or anywhere it is acceptable to have some feathered visitors.
Zoology
Using bird cards, (which you can print free from site such as this: Free Printable Bird Cards,) identify the birds that visit and eat the seeds, or print out a few sets and play matching games such as Concentration or Go-fish.
You could also have a lesson about bird nests. Gather materials birds use to make their nests such as cotton, grass, feathers, twigs, drier lint, or yarn. Starting with a paper bowl or the cut off bottom of a brown paper bag, children can build their own custom bird nests.
Sensorial Activity: Cooking
Cooking
Make these fun and delicious bird nest snacks.
12 oz. package pretzel sticks
12 oz. package peanut butter, butterscotch, or chocolate morsels
M & Ms
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Heat the morsels in the microwave (in a microwave safe bowl) for 30 seconds or until soft. Stir, then heat again for 30 seconds. Repeat until all the morsels are melted. Add the pretzel sticks. You can break them into smaller pieces if desired. Mix well. Use a large tablespoon to portion cookies onto the baking sheet. Shape into nests. Place three M & Ms (we used all blue) in the center of each cookie. Allow to cool and enjoy!
For more information about teaching through the Montessori Method, visit Age of Montessori here.
This post is part of Living Montessori Now’s Montessori Monday link! To see more awesome Montessori activities, just click the pic!
