Since making the bird templates the other day Minnie has created many more birds! She was keen to find a home for them so we came up with these paper plate nests.
Many of the birds Minnie created depicted the birds found in our garden. There were also a few imaginative creations with bright, bold, colourful feathers & patterns; my girl's creative spark was definitely lit with this project! After she had cut each bird out she added a lolly/craft stick to the back of the templates so the birds could fly! Adding the stick to the templates suddenly transformed them into fabulous puppets, & they've since been used as cute bookmarks too.
To create a nest for the bird puppets we cut a paper plate in half & stapled the two halves together at the bottom (rounded edge), leaving a larger gap between the middle staples so the lolly stick had room to slide through. We left the top (flat edge) open so the birds could sit inside the nest. Minnie then painted each plate with brown paint & once it was dry she glued on yarn, twigs & bird seed using PVA/Elmer's glue. We left them to dry overnight & they were ready to play with the next morning.
Making these nests gave us a great opportunity to talk about the items birds use to build their nests, & the various textures & shapes different species create.
Our bird puppets fitted into their nests perfectly.
When Minnie pushed the sticks up through the bottom of the plate the birds popped up & looked as if they were sitting on the nest,
& when she pulled the sticks down they looked as if they were snugged down & hiding. Perfect for a game of peek-a-boo!
Much imaginative play has flowed from this activity & the bird puppets, along with some wonderful storytelling too. And still more birds are being designed by my girl! Stop by tomorrow & I'll share our next bird themed adventure.