Build a nest like a bird - A Nests Inquiry

During one of our local park visits, we found an abandoned bird's nest lying on the ground. The twins were intrigued. "Let us take it home!", there was an immediate request. I hesitated as I was brought up with the idea that it is best to leave anything in Nature as is.  After much thought I obliged though I was uncomfortable. On the way back home the talk was all about nests and birds. "The nest is beautiful. The bird has built it with some sparkly strings to make it beautiful", observed Nidhi. "I think this nest was the bird's play area", suggested Sid. "Birds come to nest to sleep not play", said Nidhi.

Found Bird's Nest

I thought this bird's nest would make a wonderful provocation for an inquiry. At home that night, we watched a youtube video of a Robin building its nest. We discussed what kind of eggs will be in nest, sizes and shapes of eggs etc.The next morning I set the nest out with couple of magnifying glasses,clipboards, paper and pencils for them to observe and record their thoughts.

Nest Provocation set-up

The kids visited the nest first thing in the morning. They exclaimed how the sparkly strings shine beautifully in the morning sunlight. 

Observing the nest

Then Sid got to work. "I want to draw a nest.", he declared and started to work on it.

Sid's nest drawing

 In a few minutes he called for help, "Mom! I want to learn how to draw a bird.". I quickly searched for some realistic looking drawings in his books and showed him one. "A semicircle for head, a triangle for beak, an oval for body" - he started to dissect the drawing with shapes known to him.

Here is his attempt at drawing birds.

Sid's First Bird drawing attempt

Next Nidhi declared,"I want to build a nest!". She started to list out the materials she will need to build it and I suggested her to jot them down. Here is her list. It says, "STICS (sticks), FLOVER (flower), STROVS(straws),STRINGS,LIEF(Leaf),MUDS(mud),TOYS for the birds".

Nidhi's list

Nidhi's list

With air dry clay, modeling clay, strings etc from home, we ventured to our nearby park to collect materials and build our nests. The kids ran around to collect materials of their choice.

Collected materials

They carefully selected twigs and sticks. We brainstormed a strategy to start building our nests. I suggested that they start with a clay base and stick materials to it. But soon we figured out that sticks and twigs were not sticking to the clay. Soon, the kids started to solve their problems on their own. Sid stuck to making a clay base idea but changed his nest design.

Sid's initial nest design

Nidhi used her clay to make mud. She started to build her nest on the floor.

Making mud with clay and soil

Here are few pictures of nest building process.

Nest under construction -Nidhi

Will this twig stick? - Sid

"I am adding lots of grass to make it soft on inside for the baby birds." - Nidhi

Adding eggs- Nidhi

"Look Mom!, I made an egg. This white spot means that this egg is starting to hatch." - Sid

A hatching egg! - Sid

"I am tried running around to get all the grass. Building nest is tough for a bird." - Nidhi
"I think the bird will sleep in its nest as soon as it was built because the bird will be tired." - Sid
"I am going to check if this nest is big enough for me." - Nidhi
"Look Mom! There is a headboard for the bird's bed. This is Mommy bird's chair and this is baby birds chair." - Sid

Big nest is complete - Nidhi

Completed nest by Sid

Nidhi built three different nests.

"Do you see the blue strings in the nests? I cut them as big, medium and small sizes and put them on the nests by their (corresponding) sizes. Now we can know which nest is big or small by looking at the size of blue string." - Nidhi

Big, Medium and small nest by Nidhi

Same provocation, but two unique representations of nest. Amazing how little kids' brains work!
"I want to take my nest home to show everyone!" - Sid.
"I want to leave my nests here. I want some birds to use them." - Nidhi.

They were really proud of their work and proudly explained their work to passers-by, onlookers and their friends at the park.

Nidhi requested the librarian, "I want books about nests.". The librarian got her a few books which she enjoys. Here is our book list about nests.
1. Mama builts a little nest - Jennifer Ward
2. Whose nest is this? - Heidi Bee Roemer
3. Have you heard a nesting bird? -Rita Gray
4. Birds build nests.- Yvoune Winer

A lot of learning through this nest inquiry! Not only for the kids. I realized that getting out of my own comfort zone can lead to new experiences and learning.

"Teaching children about the natural world should be treated as one the most important events in their lives."- Thomas Berry

 

Art with Modeling clay/Plasticine for preschoolers

When in-between projects or inquiries, the twins spend time exploring a new art medium or work on developing their skills such as drawing, painting, writing etc. They use these skills to express their understanding of a subject. These skills also help them express or communicate their ideas in many dimensions.

One such developing skill is clay work. It is our favorite and helps tremendously with fine motor development.We have recently started exploring Modeling clay. Modeling clay is very similar to play dough. It is a bit firmer and doesn't dry up or crumble. The main idea behind introducing this clay is to help them develop the skill of building models.

The twins started to use clay just like play dough - rolling, stamping, making balls etc. Slowly 3D structures started to emerge.

A bird's nest by Nidhi

They were presented with a box of  spicebox's "Fun with clay" for their fourth birthday by their dear friends. It contained few boxes of clay,  few sculpting tools,few wacky body parts such as eyes, feet etc, and an instruction booklet. They had great time making robots, monsters, race cars etc. It was a go to activity for many days.

Sid's race car

A squirrel by Nidhi

I came across a famous author Barbara Reid's tutorial on Plasticine art and thought Sid and Nidhi might enjoy this art.

We watched Barbara Reid's tutorial videos and they were excited to make their own.

Here is a mini tutorial.

Materials Needed:

1. Work surface - Use a thick surface such as canvas board, cardboard, wood, plexiglass, cd case etc.
2. Modeling clay - Different colors - I provided the clay in small bits to help them manipulate it easily.
3. Sculpting tools
4. Pencils for sketching

Instructions:

1. Decide on the design. A pencil sketch of the art to be created will be helpful. Nidhi decided on creating a group of friends on a lawn. She sketched her plan on her drawing book.

Nidhi's design sketch

2. Draw outlines of the design on canvas board. Sid decided to create vehicles and drew them on the canvas using pencil.

3. Decide on back ground colors and apply the plasticine as thin layer. Required colors can be made by mixing and kneading basic colors.

Sid's outline of vehicles

4. Roll out snakes of clay to form outlines.

Rolling out outline for road

5.  Mould required shapes first and apply them wherever required.  Layer them as required.

Nidhi's depiction of sky with white clouds

6. Textures can be applied by using pencils, toothbrush or modeling tools. Sid uses similar techniques to add facial expressions to his characters.

Applying texture to soil with pencil

A few pictures of their finished art.

Nidhi's cast of Cinderella story

Nidhi's "group of friends in a ground"

Sid's "parade of cars"

A car with driver

A dumptruck

A boy riding a car

A girl driving a truck

An excavator with crawler tracks

The complete picture by Sid

Have you tried a different technique with a known art medium?

"The wider the range of possibilities we offer children, the more intense will be their motivations and the richer their experiences." - Loris Malaguzzi