Fine Motor Skill Bird Food Activity!
My kiddos love to be outside.  During these long, cold months of winter, being outside can be a little challenging – but it’s still fun!  We are fortunate to live in a wooded area with a lot of wildlife and our favorite little friends are the birds!  We have cardinals, bluejays, sparrows, and chickadees.  They’re so fun to watch and are always a certain sign of spring!  We thought it would be fun to treat them to a “Bird Buffet” for Valentines Day!  Here are five ways to make bird-friendly treats while practicing fine motor skills too!  Leave it to The Inspired Treehouse to put a developmental twist on making bird food, right?!
WHAT YOU’LL NEED: Suet, birdseed, bread, popcorn, an apple, blueberries, dried cranberries, peanut butter, a dull needle, string, heart shaped cookie cutter, small muffin tin or heart shaped silicone mold
WHAT TO DO:
1. Â Purchase a block of suet. Â Traditionally, you would just hang this out for the birds to peck at and eat slowly. Â But we decided it could be a great sensory and fine motor strengthening activity! Â Have your kids tear bits of suet off of the block and roll them into little balls. Â Their hands will get a bit greasy so keep the paper towels handy! Â You can even finish them off by rolling them in birdseed. Â Gourmet cake pops….birdie style!
2. Â Looking for more fine motor and strengthening practice? Â Toast a few prices of bread. Â When it’s finished, use a heart shaped cookie cutter and cut as many hearts as you can from each piece of bread. Â Spread some nut butter on each heart and sprinkle with birdseed…..peanut butter toast….birdie style!
3. Â Take a cup of birdseed and place it in a bowl. Â Whisk together 3 tablespoons of flour and 1/4 cup of water and pour over the birdseed. Â Want a sensory twist? Â Have kids put their hands in there and mix it up! Â Â When it’s all mixed together, press it into a mini muffin tin OR, buy a heart-shaped silicone mold like ours (we found this one in the Target dollar bins!)….biscuits, birdie style!
4. Â Want some practice with bilateral coordination and fine motor skills? Â No problem! Â Pop up a bag of microwave popcorn. Â Let it cool and then use both hands to pull apart that bag. Â Slice an apple up into rings. Â Slather on some peanut butter. Â Use those Super Fingers and put pieces of popcorn on top of the peanut butter….candy apple, birdie style!
5. Â Looking for more work on bilateral coordination and finger strengthening? Â Use a dull needle and some string and have kids string together a garland of blueberries and dried cranberries! Â Have some Cheerios? Â Throw those on too….candy necklace, birdie style!
The birds will LOVE you and your kiddos will enjoy every minute of watching them devour their handmade buffet!
SKILL AREAS ADDRESSED: Fine motor skills, bilateral coordination, grasp, sensory integration
Want to take a closer look at the skills kids are using in this activity? Check out our Clinical Closeup page, where we break down the skills listed below in terms everyone can understand.
[…] For the Love of the Birds […]