bird feeders

We read about Winter birds this morning for our science Friday learning. The kids wanted to look up their favorite birds in our bird guide, so we read about cardinals, eagles, blue birds, and gold finches. Nova's favorite part was learning about the bird calls. He laughed and laughed when Clover read that the gold finch says "potato chip, potato chip". After reading for awhile, we stood by our window and watched the birds as they cleaned out our front porch bird feeders. They were just eating and eating! I told the kids that some people believe that when birds eat and eat and eat like that - it means that snow is coming. They got so excited! Clover kept saying that she believed in that idea because birds know more about weather than we do, and they are probably getting ready for a big snow storm by eating plenty of food! So, to help out the birds, we made some peanut butter pinecone bird feeders.
They turned out very nicely. My kitchen was covered in peanut butter-y birdseed afterwards, but we had such a good time making the feeders. The boys didn't want to go out in the icy wind to hang them, so Clover came out with me and we hung them all over the plum tree. When we got back inside, the boys watched from the window as some sparrows tried out their treats. They took turns helping me to make soup and watching the birds until Tim got home. Clover drew some birds in her science lesson book and wrote their names above their pictures and their calls below. She did such a nice job!