Here is a great activity that’s fun for any season and perfect for little bird lovers! This activity will give children the opportunity to work on hand-eye coordination, pencil grip, and other fine motor skills. You just need a few supplies and you are ready to set up this adorable preschool invitation.
This our fourth time trying a nature sweep activity! I keep returning to it because at this point, it’s a predictable activity that I know my 1 preschooler at home and 19 preschoolers at school will love.
My little guy at home is still working on proper pencil grip so this activity gives him the chance to practice that skill with the paintbrush! This activity is inviting, engaging, and so much better than a paper and pencil activity.
Remember, you can turn this activity into a craft with a little glue!
You can see the other nature sweep variations here:
Ready to give it a try?! Here’s what you’ll need..
Supplies:
- Box lid
- Markers
- Paintbrushes
- Bird Seed
- Googly Eye
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Here’s What We Did:
Step 1:
First, find a cardboard box lid and draw a simple bird outline on it. I used a shoebox lid this time around and it worked perfectly! I drew an orange beak and stuck a googly eye on the bird’s face. The googly eye is perfect for this activity because the bird seed easily slides off of it when sweeping!
Step 2:
Then sprinkle the bird seed around the bird outline. You can throw in some learning about measurement and use measuring cups when scooping the bird seed out of your bag.
I suggest not adding too much bird seed because it can be difficult to sweep all of it into the bird outline if you have wayyy too much.
Step 3:
Now invite your child to sweep all of the bird seed into the bird outline. This can be a difficult task! I shared quite a few words of encouragement with Leo during this activity:)
He liked looking at all of the pieces of bird seed and this sparked a lot of questions about their diet! He noticed the corn and a “bunch of cool seeds!”
It took Leo about 10 minutes, but at this point the outline was almost full of bird seed. Leo got a little frustrated with some of the bird seed that rolled out of the outline, but most of it stayed in.
There were a few pieces of bird seed that didn’t fit in the outline, but that’s okay. It looked so adorable when complete! I have a fun extension craft for this activity coming later this week. I know you will love it, so check back soon!
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I hope you give this adorable activity a try! I promise, your little nature lovers will love it as much as my boys.
∼Tara
