Edible Learning

We've been learning about birds and their nests this week!  I was inspired after reading about another family who studied robins and made their own nests.

If I haven't mentioned it before, I LOVE food.  The prospect of making a tasty treat with my kids that I could pass off as an educational experience was just too hard to pass up!  And Robin Eggs are my FAVORITE spring time candy indulgance!

So we set out to make our own robin's nests, using Chex cereal, our stale marshmellows and some butter.

Each family member had their own bowl of nest making materials! (about a cup in each bowl)

While I microwaved the butter and marshmellows (1 cube butter/1 bag marshmellows), everybody else set to work on breaking up our 'dry materials' a bit.

We made the mistake of trying to formulate our nests with 'mud' that was a little too hot.  Nothing a spoon, covered in butter couldn't remedy while it was still hot before switching to final nest formation with butter covered fingers.

Since we did this activity over the lunch hour, Dad was able to lend his expert advice and recommendations on proper nest construction.

With nests formed, all that was needed were our robin eggs!

Our robin nests made of twigs and mud were complete!

Consumption soon followed!

We ended our sugar high with some mellow reading about birds nests before naptime! 

If You Were a Bird ~ centers around a Robin mama and her eggs.  The boys were so excited to find out what happened on each page!

                                          

An Egg is Quiet ~ This beautifully illustrated book showcases the eggs from all kinds of birds and other animals.  The watercolor drawings inspired us to go draw some of our own eggs, birds and nests!   This is one of those "feast for the eyes" kind of books and makes me wish I was an artist who could draw and paint... 

Amy at Simply Necessary just finished studying birds with her family.  Although I couldn't find some of the books at my libraries, she has an excellent list of wonderful books.  They loved An Egg is Quiet too!