I love to watch the birds that stay here in the northeast in the winter time. At our feeders we see house sparrows, cheerful chickadees, loud blue jays, mourning doves, dark-eyed juncos, finches, woodpeckers, and many more. If we're lucky, we'll see some bright red cardinals!

The library has many wonderful books about birds. Check out my booklist at the end of this post! If you'd like to learn more about how to feed birds in the winter, or just learn more about birds in general, visit our own Cornell Lab of Ornithology! It's a wonderful place where you can walk nature trails, and watch birds in action at their many feeders. Check out their website: Lab of O for more information.
Today we learned a little about birds in these books:

Birds by Kevin Henkes

Hooray for Birds! by Lucy Cousins

I can't resist using Kevin Henkes's Birds when sharing books about birds for very young people! Laura Dronzek's illustrations are so clear and childlike, and the narration asks us to look at birds from a simple and imaginative perspective.

Lucy Cousins new addition, Hooray for Birds! is a storytimer's dream book :) Not only do you learn about birds, you are invited to be a bird! We had lots of flying, hopping, pecking, swooping, swimming and singing going on today! Thanks, Lucy Cousins!!

We had some fun bird poems to act out today, too:

If I Were a Bird

 

If I were a bird

 

I’d sing a song (Use ASL for "bird" here! Tap the tip of your thumb and forefinger together like a beak opening and closing!)

 

And fly about (Flap your wings!)

 

the whole day long.

 

And when the night came (Do ASL for "moon" here - a "C" shaped, open fist, up in the sky.)

 

I’d go to rest (Tuck in your wings!)

 

Up in my cozy little nest. (Cup your hands for a nest!)

You can use your fingers as birds in this movement:

Fly Your Fingers!

 

Fly your fingers up

Fly your fingers down!

Fly your fingers to the side

and fly them all around!

Perch them on your shoulders

Perch them on your head!

Perch them on your belly then

Put them all to bed!

We added 10 Pretty Feathers to our Rhythm Stick repertoire today! Can you count the feathers?

 

 

Ten Pretty Feathers

 

 

 

1 little, 2 little, 3 little feathers,

 

 

 

4 little, 5 little, 6 little feathers,

 

 

 

7 little, 8 little, 9 little feathers,

 

 

 

 

10 pretty feathers in all !

 

I just love the rhythm sticks! I think the kids do, too! :)

 

Just a note about next week: Next week's T&PST will take place during the Winter School Break. Please feel free to bring in your older kids - we have a fun craft planned for our SPACE theme that should be fun for their more adroit fingers! And it's a craft we can easily adapt for your youngest toddlers, so come on in if you're going to be around :)

 

See you next time!,

Miss Kelly

Booklist:

 

• Some Birds by Matt Spink
• No Two Alike by Keith Baker
• Birds by Kevin Henkes
• Snowballs and Feathers for Lunch by Lois Ehlert
• In the Snow by Sharon Phillips Denslow; Ills. by Nancy Tafuri
• Whose Chick are You? and Five Little Chicks and Have You Seen My Duckling? And Where Did Bunny Go? and Will You Be My Friend? by Nancy Tafuri
• Bird Songs by Betty Franco; Ills. by Steve Jenkins
• Little Bird’s ABC by Pete Grobler
• How to Heal a Broken Wing by Bob Graham
• Bird Talk by Anne Jonas
• Inch by Inch by Leo Lionni
• Today at the Bluebird Café by Deborah Ruddell; Ills. by Joan Rankin
• Owl Babies by Martin Waddell
• The Roly Poly Egg by Kali Stileman
• An Egg is Quiet and A Nest Is Noisy by Diana Aston; Ills. by Sylvia Long
• More by I.C. Springman; Ills by Brian Lies
• Wild Birds by Joanne Ryder; Ills. by Susan Estelle Kwas
• Peep Leap by Elizabeth Verdick; Ill.s by John Bendall-Brunello
• *Nest by Jorey Hurley
• A Good Day by Kevin Henkes
• Mama Built a Little Nest by Jennifer Ward; Ills. by Steve Jenkins
• On the Wing by David Elliott; Ills. by Becca Stadtlander
• *Swim, Duck, Swim! by Susan Lurie; Photos by Murray Head
• Sweep Up the Sun by Helen Frost
• Spots in a Box by Helen Ward
• *new: Have You Heard the Nesting Bird? by Rita Gray; Ills. by Kenard Pak
• *new: Every Day Birds by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater; ills. by Dylan Metrano
• *New book: 5 Little Ducks by Denise Fleming
• *New book: Hooray for Birds! by Lucy Cousins
• *Newish: Every Day Birds by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater; ills. by Dylan Metrano
• And many, many more!