The Children's Garden
  • Home
  • Philosophy
  • Early Childhood Programs
  • Homeschool
  • Summer Camps
  • Enrollment
  • About Us
    • Contact & Location
    • Open House
    • In The Press
  • Blog
  • Weekend Classes
  • Parent Portal

Wild About Wildlife - Birds

10/28/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
This Fall our whole community (teachers, kids, parents, and neighbors!) have come together to help create a new learning center for ACG - a Wildlife Habitat Garden!

Here's how we keep our garden ready for wildlife:
​
  • ​Provide water year-round - A birdbath is a great start. It can be a simple one, or a decorative one to go with the landscape in your backyard.  Change the water every 2-3 days in the summer and in winter. Place the birdbath about 10 feet from dense shrubs or other cover that predators may use.
  • Install native plants - Select a variety of native plants to offer year-round food in the form of seeds, berries, nuts, and nectar. Try to recreate the plant ecosystem native to our area. Evergreen trees and shrubs provide excellent cover through all seasons, if they are part of your local ecosystem. 
  • Keep dead trees - Dead trees provide cavity-dwelling places for birds to raise their young and as a source to collect insects for food. Many birds will also seek shelter from bad weather inside these hollowed out trees.
  • Put out birdhouses / nesting boxes - Make sure the birdhouses have ventilation holes at the top and drainage holes below. Do not use a box with a perch, as house sparrows are known to sit on a nesting box perch and peck at other birds using the nesting box. Be sure to monitor the boxes for invasive animal species known to harm or out-compete native species.
  • Build a brush pile in a corner of your yard - Start with larger logs and top with smaller branches. Some birds will hunt, roost or even nest in brush piles.
  • Offer food in feeders - Bird feeders are a great sources of supplemental food during times of food scarcity, and also enhance bird viewing opportunities by bringing them to one spot.

While we waited for the weather to cool off to begin planting we started by focusing on birds and asking the kids a lot of questions:

What kinds of birds live in our area?
What do they need to survive? 
Where do they sleep?
What kind of food do they eat?
What can we do to attract them to our gardens?

They had a lot of thoughts in this and were eager to learn more. Check out a few of our projects:

Birds eat worms!

Picture
Picture
Picture

Birds eat seeds!

Pumpkin Birdfeeders
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Woodworking Birdfeeders
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

What birds do we want to attract to our gardens? Hummingbirds!

Collaborative Hummingbird Art
Picture
Picture
Picture
Hummingbird Puzzles
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Where do birds like to live?

Birdhouses
Picture
Nests
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

What birds do we see in our ACG garden? Cardinals, bluejays, doves...

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Bird Watching

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Wildlife Habitat Garden

In our hummingbird garden we planted Red Yucca, Turks Cap, Flame Acanthus, Columbines, and lots of Salvias.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Yoga

We did our fun Halloween Yoga Adventure! Check out our previous blog to learn more (scroll to  the end for yoga poses!): The Many Benefits of Nature Based Learning
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Science Fridays!

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Blueberry Muffins

It's baking season y'all! These blueberry muffins were delish!

Ingredients:
  • 2 cup almond flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/4 cup coconut yogurt
  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 2 tablespoons chopped pecans
  • 1 TBS coconut sugar
  • 1 cup blueberries berries fresh or frozen
Instructions:
  • Pre-heat oven to 350 and grease a mini muffin pan with coconut oil
  • Beat together eggs, honey, coconut oil, vanilla, and lemon zest over medium speed until combined.
  • In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
  • Slowly add the almond flour mixture into the wet mixture.
  • Gently fold in the berries.
  • Scoop mixture evenly into muffin pan and top with chopped pecans mixed with coconut sugar.
  • Bake for 25 minutes then let cool on cooling rack.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Hot Cocoa

In a heavy bottom pan mix together 4 cups coconut milk, 2 TBS of xylitol sweetener, 1/2 tsp  vanilla, 10 drops vanilla stevia. Heat and stir until warm and throroughly dissolved!
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture

Halloween Fun!

​Magic Wands at the MakerSpace
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Halloween Scratchers
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Halloween Kids Night
Picture
Picture
Halloween Potluck
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
See you next time!
Picture
0 Comments

    How we learn...

    The intention of this blog is to include the community in our learning process and to inspire families to engage in fun and healthy activities together!

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Subscribe To Our Newsletter!

* indicates required