Birding Activities for Outdoor Education: Immersing Elementary Students in Nature

Why Take Your Kids Birding…

Bird-watching, or “birding,” is a fantastic way to get students outside while building key skills like observation, tool use, and data collection. It sparks curiosity, strengthens their connection to nature, and is accessible to all learners— even the youngest can experience the joy of spotting birds in your learning space.

Birding also fits seamlessly into any subject! Use it for math by counting, estimating, or graphing bird populations. In science, students can observe habitats, animal behavior, and survival needs. Get creative by incorporating sketching, writing, or poetry into your bird-watching activities. The possibilities are endless!

Getting Started with Birdwatching

You don’t need to be a bird expert to start birding with your students. As you learn alongside your students, you will start to become more and more of an expert each day. The more time you spend watching birds with your students, the more you will be able to identify birds by both sight and sound.

Additionally, bird-watching is accessible to everyone, whether you are in an urban or rural environment. It can also be done fairly inexpensively with minimal equipment or if you have the funds, you can splurge on some basic tools. You may also want to spend some time creating a bird-friendly space in your school yard to attract some feathered friends into your learning space.

Helpful Tools for Bird Watching

  • Binoculars
    • These can be very expensive and are not a requirement, but they can be helpful (and give students a chance to use some actually scientific tools)
    • Inexpensive binoculars can often be found for kids
    • You may also be able to borrow sets from local nature organizations
    • You can also slowly accumulate class sets over time or try to find grants to make a purchase of several good-quality pairs
    • Students can always share binoculars as well
  • Field Guides
    • Try to find field guides that are specific to your area
    • You may also be able to find ID cards that are specific to your area
  • Notebooks or Birding Journals
    • These are a great way to record the types and numbers of birds that you see.
  • Birding Apps
    • There are so many great birding apps that are available that can help you identify birds by both there calls and their appearance. Most of these are free!

Setting Up a Bird-Friendly Space

The more “bird-friendly” your space is, the more birds you will be able to attract and study. Creating this space can even be part of your bird studies. Be sure to check with your school administrator about what you are allowed to do in your school space.

Some ideas for creating a bird-friendly space:

  • bird feeders
    • These can be purchased or made by the students
    • Check with local experts about what types of feeders and seed is best for your area
      • Be aware that some see mixes contain peanuts…if you are nut aware school be sure to check the ingredients
  • Bird baths– Again, these can be purchased, or students can make some
  • Bird houses
  • Planting native plants
    • Check with local experts on what plants are best for attracting birds. This may be a long-term project that you won’t see the benefits of immediately, but it will pay off in the future

Introduce Some Local Birds Before You Go Outside

  • Have students work together to make a list of birds that they already know
  • Use a birding app to introduce students to some of the sounds local birds make
  • Provide students with a list of local birds. Have each student choose a bird to become an expert on and create a short presentation or poster on that bird
  • Show students youtube videos such as “feeder cams” to introduce different birds

Engaging Bird-Watching Activities for Kids

1. Bird Observation Walks

  • Lead your students on a structured walk in your schoolyard or community. Be sure to go over expectations and your learning objectives beforehand. If you wish, you can have students bring binoculars and notebooks for recording their finds.
  • Provide your students with specific objectives of what to look for. For example, depending on the age of your students, you might have students look at the colours, sizes, behaviours, or listen for the sounds of birds
  • Check out some tips for birding with kids here at Backwoods Mama.

2. Bird Sound Matching Game

Sound matching is an activity you can do either inside or outside. To do this activity, you will need an app like Merlin Bird ID or YouTube videos of birds and their calls. Once students are confident in identifying calls, you can start to try this outside with real bird calls.

To play:
  • Play a bird call
  • Have your students try to mimic the bird call
  • Share the name or picture of the bird that was making the call
  • Be as silly as you need to be. Some bird calls are really funny!

3. Create a Bird Journal

A bird journal is a great way for students to record what they have observed. Your bird journal may be as simple as recording the name of the bird that was spotted in a notebook. You can also get more complicated and involve sketches, tallying quantities (especially if you plan to graph it later), or even recording notes on the behaviour of the bird. For younger students, a premade template could be helpful in scaffolding data recording!

4. DIY Bird Feeders & Habitat Exploration

Building bird feeders can be a great way to immerse your students in habitat exploration. There are so many different types of bird feeders that students can make using natural and recycled materials. You can even extend creating bird feeders into a design/engineering challenge!

ideas for bird feeder exploration….
  • Challenge your students to a bird feeder design contest…the birds will decide who the winner is! Have your students observe the birds in your learning space, then have them use recycled materials to design their own feeder. Students can observe the feeders and see what design features the birds seem to like best.
  • Fill feeders with different types of bird food (remember to check for allergens.) Have students observe which birds go to which feeders/type of food.
  • Use bird feeders as an introduction to discuss animal survival needs, habitats, or conservation.

5. Citizen Science & Bird Counts

Citizen science is when everyday citizens collaborate with researchers by providing data. Participating in citizen science is a great way to make learning authentic and meaningful to your students. Students take great pride in knowing the data that is collected is used by actual scientists and makes a contribution to the study of bird populations.

Ways to participate:
  • Participate in events like the Great Backyard Bird Count
  • Submit sightings to platforms like eBird
  • If available to you, collaborate with researchers at local universities, conservation areas, or organizations

Cross-Curricular Birding Extensions

Birding is not just for science and nature connection. There are so many ways that you can bridge multiple curriculums by observing birds with your students.

  • Science Topics:
    • Bird adaptations
    • Migration
    • Life cycles
  • Math Activities:
    • Graphing bird sightings
    • Measuring wingspans
  • Art:
    • Creating bird masks
    • Watercolor bird paintings
    • Bird Sketching
  • Language Arts Extensions:
    • Writing bird-themed stories
    • Bird poems
    • Descriptive Writing

Tips for a Successful Birding Lesson

You don’t need to be an experienced birder to have success with birding lessons. Here are a few tips to help things go smoothly while your students learn about the birds in their learning space:

Best Times to go Bird Watching:

Most birders like to go out very early in the morning as this is when the song birds are most active. However, this isn’t available to most teachers as your students will still be sleeping. If you are able, going in the morning once students get to school will allow students to have a chance to experience the morning bird songs.

Best Locations to go Bird Watching:

Exploring a variety of habitats can help students see a greater variety of birds. However, starting where you are and with what your students are able to access is best. You will find birds in every environment, even the most urban areas.

Teaching Students to be Quiet and Patient Observers:

Being a quiet and patient observer does not come naturally to many children. However, it is a skill that can be learned with practice. Start with small, manageable amounts of time and practice in authentic ways. Provide your students with something specific to focus on, such as a sound or colour, so that they can experience success. Also, have reasonable expectations for the ages of your students.

Teach Your Students About Respecting the Birds’ Space:

Help your students to understand that they are sharing the space with the birds (and other animals). Treating the birds and their space with respect should be a priority when birding. Teach your students about keeping a respectful distance from the birds as well as how to move in the space so as not to scare the birds away.

Adapt Your Activities for Your Students Ages and Abilities:

Know your students and what they are capable of doing. You want bird-watching to be enjoyable, not something that your students dread. Keep walking distances and attention spans in mind when planning your activities. Additionally, scaffolding the activities with journal templates or sketching guides can be helpful in keeping students engaged.

Now Get Outside and Start Watching the Birds!

Bird-watching with your students is a fantastic way to encourage nature observation while simultaneously facilitating meaningful connections with nature. It is through these connections that students start to care about the wildlife and habitats that are in their learning space. You don’t need to be a bird expert or know the names of every bird in the schoolyard to get started. As you and your students get to know the birds in your area, you will start to gain that knowledge. Start with a few simple activities and get outside and learn with your students.

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