Feeding the Birds

5 October 2010

Today is a lovely day and the children are all outside enjoying this glorious day. The teachers were busy supervising them as well. Its time for my morning tea time so I went to the kitchen. I found out that there were plenty of expired bread from the fridge. There were some fresh ones as well. I was about to put the old bread  to the rubbish bin then I realized that I can use this for activity for the children. I took the old bread outside where the infants and toddlers were busy playing. They saw I was holding a plastic bag of sliced bread. I explained to them that it is an old bread and only good for the birds. We started to feed the birds and the children really loved this experience. The children started to imitate the bird's sound "tweet..tweet". Everybody wanted to have a go to feed the birds until we ran out of bread. The younger children  was trying to eat the bread and we know it was time for their morning tea time as well. I went to get some more fresh bread so that they can feed the birds and themselves.

What's happening here?

 Te Whariki says that " Toddlers have opportunities to help take care of animals and living things appropriately". Children experience respect and developing their sense of responsibility for the well-being of both the living and the non living things (Ministry of Education, 1996). From this experience, children will learn to look after animals. They will learn that birds need food as well just like people. When children observe, touch, see, and smell, they are learning. They use all their senses to acquire learning (Ministry of Education, 1996). Learning is a never ending part of their lives and it is our responsibilities as educators to provide activities for young children in our centre. By imitating the sound of the birds, the children may wonder what other animals may sound.

Being outside encompassed a sense of freedom watching the birds. Their emotional, spiritual, and personal well-being will be related to the living things around them (Greenfield, 2007). Beyond all doubt young children learn from action as well. Children not only see things or events but they want to act on them in order to learn (Greenman, 2005).

What's next?

Children will be given opportunities to see how other animals live and eat through the computer or books. Children may also learn about other animals that are native to New Zealand and from other countries. They may also learn about classes of animals like reptiles, mammals, and others. Children will learn the different sounds that other animals produce.

References:

Greenfield, C. (2007). Outside is where we need to be: A guide to providing optimal outdoor environments in early childhood settings. Manukau City Social Sciences Department, Manukau Institute of Technology.

Greenman, J. (2005). Caring spaces, learning places: Environments that work. Redmond, W.A: Exchange Press.

Ministry of Education (1996). Te Whariki, He whaariki matauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa: Early childhood curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.