I am scrambling today trying to get our whole family ready to head out of town for an environmental education conference. This is the first time that my family will be coming with me for a "work" conference and I am very nervous but also really excited. I have two workshops to present, three meetings to run and a ton of other stuff to do, not to mention being mom and wife! I will be sharing pictures and stories of what we did and how it went when we get back on Monday!
So, while I am packing and prepping for my sessions the girls got to pretend to be birds trying to survive the cold temps in winter.
First we talked about how birds have feathers and to make them even warmer in the winter they shake their bodies to fluff up their feathers. The fluffing traps air between the feathers and keeps them more insulated. This is one reason why some birds (cardinals and chickadees) look bigger in the winter. They haven't put on extra weight, just extra air!!
I started with water balloons. But instead of filling them with water I filled them with air.
The I explained to the girls that to fluff up their feathers they had to try and see how many balloons they could squeeze underneath their shirts.
Eventually they started trying to stick the balloons under their pants, sleeves and even socks! They were determined to be warm birds through the winter!
They had a blast and I got some great work done. Plus, some learning happened, which is always a plus!
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The Nitty Gritty!
For more activities on animals preparing for and surviving winter check out these posts -
