Family Activity
What do birds eat and how do they eat it?
Look at some bird pictures and point out the beaks, explaining that every bird has a beak that is shaped to help it find and eat its own food. Then you can try out these techniques:
- Eat like a robin: Embed gummy worms in a pan full of dried oats. Have the child try to spear the gummy worms with tweezers.
- Eat like a hummingbird: Have the child suck up a little sugar water, using a straw for a beak and fitting the straw through a hole in a piece of paper or foil covering a glass.
- Eat like a cardinal: Use a nutcracker to crack sunflower seeds or something of similar hardness. Point out the wide, strong beak of the cardinal.
- Eat like a woodpecker: Help a child peck hard at an old piece of wood with a screwdriver or other hard, pointed object; an adult can help to make sure there are no injuries. Another idea is to take a paper towel roll poked with holes and put small pieces of gummy worms partially seen from the outside. The child has to pull the worm out through the hole, similar to what a woodpecker would do.
- Eat like a flycatcher or a swallow: Have the child catch some popped popcorn or light cereal that you throw into the air. For more fun, hang the food on a string and have them chase after the “fly” around the room.
- Eat like a finch: Put some rice cereal in a small cardboard box with holes in it; have them get the cereal out with tweezers.
- Eat like a chickadee/sparrow, etc.: Put the cereal in a bowl and let them eat – no hands allowed.
- Eat like an eagle, hawk, etc.: Let the child pounce on a small stuffed animal – you can add the predator/prey information if appropriate for age.
Family Activity
Explore the water!
Go with a parent or adult to a pond or creek. Bring a net, coffee can, bucket, or any other container. Don’t forget to wear boots and prepare to get wet!
Scoop up the water and make sure to gather a lot of the dirt at the bottom – some of the most interesting creatures are hiding down there! These creatures tend to be scavengers and detritivores, digesting dead material and returning them back to the water. They play an important role for the health of the aquatic ecosystem.
You may find invertebrates, such as dragonfly, damselfly, and mayfly larvae as well as adults of these larvae flying around. You may also see giant water bugs, water striders sliding along the surface of the water, diving beetles, water boatmen, and water scorpions. You may find larger invertebrates like a crayfish scurrying along the bottom. Be on the lookout for vertebrates such as minnows or larger fish, amphibians like frogs and toads, reptiles like turtles and snakes, and maybe even mammals swimming in the water!
Anything you collect, make sure to treat them with respect and care and put them back in the water when you are done.
Here is a cool resource created by entomologist Moriya Rufer from the University of Minnesota to help in identification!
Safety tips – make sure to use caution around slippery rocks. Algae or moss growing on a rock makes them slippery, so always check that you have secure footing. It’s best not to jump from rock to rock. Crayfish have some strong claws – be careful when handling them to avoid pinches! Similarly, be careful with some insects, especially the giant water bug – because they are predators, they can have a painful bite (they are nicknamed toe-biters!). A change of clothes for the trip back home is also helpful!
Explore
Summertime is a great time to explore aquatic ecosystems! On hot days, what better way is there than to cool off from the hot sun by playing in water. Go with a parent or other adult to a pond or creek and learn how to play safely near water. Bring a bucket, fish net or sandbox sifter, and large white bowls or plates when you go. If you have a magnifying lens, bring that too!
Wade into the water carefully, scoop out some water with the mud from the bottom (that will get you some fun creatures) and dump it into your white containers. The white background will allow you to see specimens better. Look for water bugs, larvae of dragonflies, damselflies, and mayflies, snails, mussels, crayfish and much more! Don’t forget to put them back into their home in the water when you are done!
For younger children – learn about the properties of water by using a big bowl of water and placing objects into it. For example, discuss how objects float and sink by placing rocks, flowers, leaves, and other things in nature.
Go Mothing!
Summer is an excellent time to search for moths. There are a few simple ways to find them. Moths tend to be attracted to lights, so an easy way to attract them is to turn on a porch light and bring them close. To see them better, hang a white sheet on a clothesline or wall and shine a light onto it. Then just wait and see.
You can also attract moths by providing a sugary food. Make “moth food” – mix, sugar and a fruit, such as banana or peach. Then spread it on a tree trunk and check back as the sun sets.
Late Summer into Fall
As we approach fall time, a fun activity you can do is to make leaf rubbings. All you need is a piece of paper, your favorite crayon, and a leaf.
First, go outside and retrieve a leaf off a nearby tree. Next, lay your leaf down on a flat surface and put the sheet of paper over it. If your crayon has a wrapper on it, peel it off. Then using the long side of the crayon, shade on the paper over the leaf. You’ll be surprised to see that you have just drawn the leaf you picked out!
As summer comes to an end and the weather cools off slightly, a fun thing to do with your family is to have a campfire and roast s’mores! To make s’mores around a campfire, all you need is graham crackers, chocolate, marshmallows, and a stick.
First, put your marshmallow on the end of the stick. Hold the marshmallow over the fire until it is cooked just how you like it. Then, put a piece of chocolate on a graham cracker, and use another graham cracker to sandwich the chocolate and the marshmallow in the middle. Enjoy!