Birds Theme for Preschool

There are so many different types of birds in the world!

Have fun with this bird preschool theme adding the types you have in your area and introducing your children to some that are not so familiar!

This theme page is filled with preschool activities and ideas for all areas of your classroom.

You'll find more themes to help you with your planning on my preschool themes page.

Let the Theme planning begin!

You can either scroll down through this page to see all of the preschool activities for your theme or click the link below to go to specific preschool activity types you are looking for.

BIRDS

Art Activities
Block Area
Circle Time Activities
Cooking Recipes Dramatic Play Ideas
Easel Ideas
Gross Motor Games
Library and Literacy
Math And Manipulatives Activities
Music and Movement
Sand and Water Table
Science Activities
Miscellaneous Ideas Art Activities

Bird Theme Art

Rainbow Birds

Materials Needed: One large and one small paper plate for each child for the head and body of bird (or you can cut out or draw and have the children cut out their own circles); various colors of paint; paintbrushes; scissors; white glue; one 6-inch or so piece of pipe cleaner for each child; feathers; wiggly eyes

The children paint the head and body. When dry, add wiggly eyes and feathers for tail and wings. Use pipe cleaner piece to hang.

Owls

Materials Needed: brown lunch bags; newspaper; paper to make eyes and feet and beaks; glue

The children loosely stuff the bags with newspaper. Close the top of the bag (put tops together) and then fold outside corners into middle to make a point at the top, and then fold the point down (the bag now has a flat top, like an owl head shape).

The children cut out their own owl eyes, beaks and feet and glue to bag.

EXTENSION: Provide paint for children to paint their owls before added eyes.

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Block Area

Bird Theme Block Center Ideas

Add stuffed birds (beanie babies) to the block area!

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Circle Time Activities

Bird Theme Circle Time Ideas

Circle Time is such a great time for children to learn the social skills of being together as a large group AND to learn more about your theme!

Five Little Birds Fingerplay

Five Little Birds in a nest in a tree (hold up one hand)

Are as hungry as can be.

"Tweet" said baby bird number one (wiggle one finger)

Mommy bird promised she would come.

"Tweet, tweet" said baby bird number two (wiggle 2nd finger)

If she doesn't, what shall we do?

"Tweet, tweet, tweet" said baby bird number three (wiggle 3rd finger)

I hope that she can find our tree.

"Tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet" said baby bird number four (wiggle 4th finger)

She has never been this late before.

"Tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet, tweet" said baby bird number five (wiggle 5th finger)

Will our Mommy EVER arrive?

Oooooh! Look! Here she comes to feed her family (use other hand to "fly" to baby bird hand)

And all the baby birds were as happy as could be!

Little Red Hen

In advance, make or print out character pictures of the characters from this story. After reading the story once, have the children help act it out. Add these pictures to the Library with the book for the children to use later in the day.

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Cooking Recipes

Snack Recipe Ideas to Cook Up for Your Theme!

Cooking with children helps develop their math skills and helps them to learn how to follow directions. It also allows for some great conversation! Ask many questions while cooking with your children to encourage conversation! Be sure to ask specific themed questions while making these fun snacks!

Nests

Materials: pretzel sticks, shredded wheat cereal, chocolate chips and jelly beans; cupcake liners

In advance, melt chocolate

The children arrange some pretzels and shredded wheat in the cupcake liners. Drizzle with chocolate. Top with 3 jelly beans and let chocolate harden.

I know coconut is a traditional ingredient for this, however, we had children with tree nut allergies and coconut...you guessed it....is a tree nut.

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Dramatic Play Ideas

Bird Theme Ideas to Transform Your Dramatic Play Area

Bird House

Provide a large cardboard box or serveral smaller ones and bird items such as beaks for the children to wear, string for worms, etc.

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Easel Ideas

Preschool Bird Theme Ideas for your Easel--More Than Just Painting (Although that is always THE favorite in our classroom!)

Robins' Eggs

Provide blue and white paint for the children to paint robin eggs. Add sand to paint for a nice texture!

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Gross Motor Games

Bird Theme Large Group Games that help build their muscles while they have fun together

Bluebird, Bluebird

Have the children join hands and stand in a circle. The child on one end is the bluebird and he or she weaves in and out of the other childrends arms while singing the Bluebird song:

Bluebird, Bluebird through my window.

Bluebird, Bluebird through my window.

Bluebird, Bluebird through my window.

Who will the next Bluebird be?

This child then goes to the end of the line and the next child is the bluebird.

Duck, Duck, Goose

But of course!!

Bird Story Parachute Game

Tell a story about a bird in an egg. The egg starts to move (gently move parachute up and down)

It breaks out of its shell. (Move the chute all the way up then all the way down)

The baby is trying to fly! It's flapping its wings so, so fast!

You get the picture!

EXTENSION: Have plastic eggs or colored balls to put on the chute and see how long it takes to get them all off the "nest"!

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Library and Literacy

Bird Theme Ideas for Your Library and Literacy Activities for your Preschool Classroom

Book Suggestions for the Library

(I LOVE Amazon, and some of the links below will take you to the Amazon website.  If you do choose to purchase yours through Amazon, they do send me a few cents--which supports my coffee habit! )

Are You My Mother? by Dr. Seuss (My ALL-Time FAVORITE book!)
Birds by Susan Canizares and Pamela Chanko
Birdsong by Audrey Wood
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems
Have you seen birds? by Joanne Oppenheim
In a People House by Dr. Seuss
In My Nest by Sara Gillingham
In My Tree by Sara Gillingham
Little Owl's Night by Divya Srinivasin
There Is a Bird On Your Head! by Mo Willems
Where Do Birds Live? by Betsey Chessen

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Math And Manipulatives Activities

Bird Theme Activities to help your Preschoolers develop those small muscles in their hands!

Feather Sorting

Materials: Variety of shapes and colors for the children to sort by color and size.

Pipe Cleaner Worms

Provide different colors and shapes of pipe cleaners for the children to manipulate and sort or twist together to make a cool "worm" structure!

Nest Number and Counting Game

In advance, make 5 (or more) nest shapes and 10 or more egg shapes. Glue a different number of eggs on each nest and laminate.

Make birds and number them to match the number of eggs (one bird for each nest) and the children match the correct bird to each nest.

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Music and Movement

Bird Theme Music and Movement Activities and Ideas to get your Preschoolers Movin' and Groovin'!

Chicken Dance

Of course-- this theme would not be complete without the Chicken Dance! I love Greg and Steve's Chicken Dance Medly!

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Sand and Water Table

Birds Theme Activities for the Senses!

Seed!

Add birdseed, funnels, measuring cups, spoons, small bowls, etc. to your sand table.

Worms!

Well, why not? Add dirt and night crawlers to the table. I had to limit this to only 2 children at a time so the worms were not disected. Provide spoons, sticks and magnifying glasses for the children to check them out. Also add little bowls for the children to put them in to get a better look.

Bird Feeders

A teacher once told me that she did this outside her classroom window!

She placed a few plungers into the ground and added water to a few of them and bird seed to the others and they actually had birds come to it all day!

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Science Activities

Birds Theme Science Activities--for your Preschool Scientists in Training!

Nest Investigators

Provide an actual birds nest and magnifying glasses for the children to use.

Add a note book for the children to "write" their observations on!

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Miscellaneous Ideas

Miscellaneous Activities for Your Preschool Birds Theme!

Field Trips

Neighborhood Walk and Listen

Walk around or sit outside to listen for and see birds!

Visit Audubon Society--Although it may not be possible to visit one, see if someone can visit your center!

Visit a Pet Store

Classroom Visitors

A parent who is a bird enthusiast!

A librarian with some cool bird books and a craft!

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Other Themes You May Like:

Go to MAIN THEMES page from this Birds Page

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Go to Preschool Plan-It's Home Page