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Event Ideas What Have Other People Done for International Migratory Bird Day http www environmentamericas org

ACTIVITIES Each year Environment for the Americas provides International Migratory Bird Day materials to groups in need IMBD EVENT IDEAS SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS IMBD EVENT FLYERS Download activities coloring pages presentations event flyers banners posters and more for your event or program http resources migratorybirdday org

ACTIVITIES Beaks Materials clothes pins skewers spoons Swedish fish nerds gummy worms trays Step by step 1 Set out trays with marshmallows nerds and gummy worms 2 Have kids use the different type of beaks to fill up their stomachs 3 They will learn which materials are easiest picked up by which beak 4 Tell the students birds have special beaks based off which food they eat Pinch Beak Clothes Pin made to grip and grab fish Spear Beak Skewers made to stab prey Pouch Beak Spoon scoops up food to eat usually in water

ACTIVITIES Make a Bird Feeder Materials honey bird seed pine cones baggies bowls wet rags Step by step 1 Have bowls of honey at each table 2 Give each student a pinecone that has a string attached and have them roll it in the honey 3 Next they will sprinkle bird seed on it 4 Have them put it in the bag so they don t get honey everywhere afterwards By Meagan

ACTIVITIES Oh Birdie All animals need five things in order to be happy and live a long time They are Food Water Shelter Space and Air 1 Oh Birdie Like Oh Bird helps show the relationship between animals and their resources Ask 5 students to volunteer to be the birds first Remind students all will get a chance to be a bird as the game goes on Mark two parallel lines on the ground 10 to 20 yards a part The birdies line up behind one line with their backs to the other students The other students become habitat components necessary to survive food water and shelter and line up behind the other line with their backs to the bird 2 Explain that the birds need to find food water and shelter in order to survive in their environment If they do not then they will die 3 In this activity when the bird is looking for food it should clamp its hands over its stomach When a bird is looking for water it should put its hand over its mouth When a bird is looking for shelter it holds its hands together over its head 4 A bird can choose to look for any one of its needs during each round of the activity Emphasize that the bird cannot change what it is looking for during a round It can only change what is looking for at the beginning of each round 5 The other students are the food water and shelter Students get to choose what they want to be at the beginning of the round They show their choice in the same way as the bird have Emphasize to these students that they cannot change what component they are during a round They can only change at the beginning of each round 6 The teacher should begin the first round by asking all students to make their signs hand over stomach mouth or head Empha size that students should choose one of these symbols before turning around to face the other group 7 When the students are ready tell them to GO At this time each bird and each habitat component turns to face the opposite group continuing to hold their sign clearly 8 When the bird see the habitat component that matches what they need they are to run to it Each bird must hold the sign of what it is looking for until getting to the matching habitat compo nent 9 Once the bird find their correct component they should take it back to their line and the habitat component becomes a bird Any bird who fails to find its habitat component dies becomes a habitat component on the other side and becomes available as food water or shelter to the bird who are still alive 10 Habitat components not taken by a bird continue to be habitat components 11 The activity should consist of 12 15 rounds The teacher records the number of bird at the beginning of the activity and at the end of each round so that students can graph the results in the classroom 12 Add in challenges such as a predator that can catch the birds on their way to find their resource

ACTIVITIES Bookmobile or Volunteers from Your Local Library The Montana Discovery Foundation in Helena MT gets the local library involved in their IMBD event This year we asked the Bookmobile from our local library to attend They brought multiple iPads with birding apps downloaded so kids could have their hit of technology while learning about birds They also had pulled out birding and wildlife focused books that kids visiting the inside of the bookmobile would pick these books up first This was the first year we had done this and it got a lot of attention Variation Story Book Tent A volunteer reads a book about migration conservation or anything bird related to children in a teepee By Shawn Econo

ACTIVITIES Create a Bird Friendly Habitat Magnet Board Children match birds to 6 different habitats First they build the habitat then they add the birds all of which are laminated with a magnet and stuck to a magnetic board

ACTIVITIES Migration Through Education Stations Select five migratory birds that come through your area including at least two of the birds highlighted by Environmental for the Americas that year and make info cards that kids can wear around their necks The cards have a picture of the bird on the front and info about the bird diet habitat fun facts etc printed on the back The kids are told at a beginning booth that they get to become a migratory bird and go on a migration around the Aviary They choose their card to wear and since we re pretending all of the info on the back begins with You just became a bird species and is worded like You love to eat Once kids have their bird identity they can circulate around to the education stations or tables at your event 1 the Flight Fuel station where they learn about how birds need to eat a lot to have energy to migrate and then try out different tools that simulate bird beaks it follows the Fill the Bill curriculum from the Flying WILD curriculum guide 2 the Perfect Plumage station where they learn about breeding plumage and make craft feather headbands

ACTIVITIES 3 the Bird Hurdles station where the kids run through an obstacle course that teaches them about obstacles that migratory birds face For the obstacle course we again drew inspiration from the Flying WILD curriculum One obstacle represents windows on buildings It is set up by wrapping plastic wrap around the backs of two chairs with a gap between the two chairs Participants must crawl under the plastic wrap to avoid hitting the window Another obstacle represents polluted habitat We use trash bags stuffed with pillows that the participants have to weave in and out of Another obstacle represents loss of habitat by using hula hoops placed on the ground as remaining patches of habitat and participants must jump from one hula hoops to the next The final obstacle is a cat that s allowed to roam outside represented by a stuffed toy cat tied like a tetherball to a pole The person staffing the obstacle course swings the cat at participants who have to time running past the cat so that they don t get caught 4 the Nifty Nests station where they have made it to their nesting grounds and get to make kid sized nests on a lawn with found natural items sticks leaves dead grass etc The IMBD event at Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake City Utah has had great success with having kids migrate through the education stations it s been a hit It s nice because families don t HAVE to follow the stations in order or do them on a specific timeline they can wander up to any station in between checking out the other festivities we have going on that day

ACTIVITIES Ecological Rummage Sale and Native Plant Sale Event organizers from the Western Great Lakes Bird Bat Observatory found that both the ecological rummage sale and native plant sale not only tied in with their habitat conservation and migratory stopover themes but did a lot to boost attendance at the event

ACTIVITIES Birding 101 For children and adults who are new to birding offering an introductory course that teaches participants how to properly use binoculars techniques for spotting and identifying birds and basic bird ID can provide the aid and support many people like when learning about a new activity Take children on a short bird walk 15 minutes The duration and distance travelled can be longer for groups of adults

ACTIVITIES Sugar Bird Cookies The Montana Discovery Foundation in Helena MT has local bakery make a couple hundred sugar bird cookies Then they give the kids a swipe of frosting on their own popsicle stick to frost and add sprinkles to This is a go to station for just about every kid at the event

SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS Social Media Share the importance of bird conservation and International Migratory Bird Day Use the Social Media icons available at http resources migratorybirdday org Post Your Event http environmentamericas org events add an event Environment for the Americas EFTA_birdday EFTA_birdday

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