Parental Activity Plan: Day Four

Date: May 14, 2020

Age: 2 yrs. old

Theme: Birds

Objective(s): Given the opportunity children should be able to:

1. Use plural and some adjectives, e.g. pretty birds.

2. Cooperate and share with others.
3. Manipulate paper to create a papier Mache craft

Resources: Pictures, old newspaper, a piece of wire, glue

Circle Time

Name of Activity: Bird Spotting

Activity:

Introduction: Take your child on a nature walk outside to look for birds.

Step 1. Have your child listen for birds and try to identify their location.

Step 2. Help your child to locate the birds and discuss the type of birds.

Step 3. Discuss with your child whether it is a big or small bird.

Step 4. Have your child try to imitate the sound of a big bird and that of a
small bird.

Creative Activity

Name of Activity: Bird Papier Mache

Activity:

Step 1. Help your child to use a piece of wire to frame out a bird. Have your
child shred old newspaper and put it in a container with glue.

Step 2. Use the old newspaper soaked in glue to paste over the bird frame
made from wire. Put on enough soaked paper until the bird is shaped out.

Step 3. Leave the bird to dry and paint if necessary.

Indoor/Outdoor Play

Name of Activity: Fly high, Fly low

Activity:

Step 1. Have your child name the different birds that he or she knows.

Step 2. Have your child listen to the song below and name the bird and do
the actions

Song-

Mary is a big bird flying high, flying high, flying high (rept.)
High up in the sky.
What is that big bird flying high, flying high, flying high (rept.)
High up in the sky.

Johnny is a small bird flying low, flying low, flying low (rept.)
Low down to the ground.
What is that small bird flying low, flying low, flying low (rept.)
Low down to the ground.

Your child will wave his or her arms up high for high and down low for low.

Story Time:

Name of Activity: The Story of Bird

(This story should be read more than once and not completed in one sitting.)

Activity:

Step 1. Show your child the picture at the beginning and let him or her tell
you what he or she thinks is happening.

Step 2. Read a part of the story to your child and stop at a high point. Ask
your child simple questions based on the story.
(The story can be continued another day)
 The Adventures of Bird
By Bob Harding-Jones

Illustration by Don Man

Once upon a time there was an exceptionally large

bird. His name was Bird. Although he had a bad
memory it was an easy name for him to remember –
children were always pointing at him saying ‘Look at
that bird!’ which helped him remember his name
when he had forgotten it. But one-day Bird could not
fly. He tried, but he could not. He loved to soar high
in the sky, loop-the-loop and dive-bomb chickens. He made the chickens envious
as they could not fly, and they ran at full pelt towards him to get off the ground
and chase him away. But to no avail. Mostly the chickens got up to quite a good
speed, stirring up great clouds of dust, almost taking off, but crashed into the
wire mesh fence at the end of their chicken run, making it bulge, springing them
backwards to land with a bump and a squawk. That is why it was called a chicken
run: because the chickens could only run, not fly.

Bird could no longer fly was because he loved eating – too much. This would not
have mattered, but he had eaten too much too many times and had become even
larger. He loved the tasty leftover morsels in the fast food cartons that were
littered on the sidewalks by untidy people. So, Bird grew and grew – and grew.
And got heavier and heavier –and heavier. But his wings stayed the same size. So,
no matter how fast he flapped, he could not take off from the ground anymore.
He just could not fly. Bird flapped and flapped his wings furiously, but to no avail,
he just scattered the empty food cartons all over the road. And his bottom only
rose an inch above the ground before bouncing three times back on the
sidewalk. Bird was flying nowhere and decided to walk down the street and flap
at a bus to stop for him with one of his wings.

A sign on the bus said: ‘NO BIRDS – DEFINITELY NO LARGE BIRDS’. Bird could
not read signs other than reading the word ‘BIRD’, so thought that it must be a
bus especially for Birds and hopped on anyway. Bird did not have any money, but
the driver liked birds. He kept homing pigeons as pets and thought that Bird
must need homing too and felt sorry for him and turned a blind eye.

Bird perched on a comfy seat hoping no one would notice him. But there were two
children: twins Sally and James, sitting right behind Bird who were on their way
home from school who did notice him and said together at the same time (as
twins sometimes do): ‘Look at that bird!’

Bird did not know where he was going. The bus seemed to be going round in
circles and stopping and starting all the time. Bird normally flew straight home at
night to his favourite perch, on a strong branch, high up in a large tree
overlooking a sports field. How he was going to get back up there he did not
know. He hoped that the bus would take him there. Sally spoke to Bird: ‘Where
are you going?’ Bird was confused and did not know how or what or where to
answer. The bus arrived at Sally and James’s bus stop and they beckoned to Bird
to hop off too. ‘Let us take him home’ they both said together (as twins
sometimes do).

It was a short walk and hop to Sally and James’ home and they were greeted by
their mum. ‘Welcome home darlings had a nice time?’ she said and added: ‘What
on earth is that?’ and waving a pointed finger.

‘That’s Bird that is, ‘was the reply, ‘I don’t think he can fly any more. Can he live
with us?’

Definitely . . . NOT! Said their mum in her very most annoyed voice.

‘Oh p-l-e-a-s-e!’ Was the twins’ chorus.? ‘Oh p-l-e-a-s-e mum!’ ‘Oh p-l-e-a-s-e, p-l-
e-a-s-e mum!’
Bird guessed that it was best for him to appear his most cuddly and preened and
ruffled his feathers to look like a lovable little yellow fluffy Easter chick. But he
was scrawny, shabby, and rather ugly. But he did his best.

Luckily Sally and James’ mum felt sorry for Bird and said ‘Oh, alright, but only
for one night.’ That evening they all settled down in front of the tally to watch a
nature programme about exotic birds living in hot countries far away. Bird’s beak
flopped open wide in wonderment. He was not exotic and had never flown to far
away countries. Afterwards they found a nice roost for Bird on top of the
bannister rails, upstairs on the landing, outside the bedrooms. Bird was very
tired and after a few pecks of breakfast cereal and a dip of water, tucked his
head under his wing, drifted off to sleep, dreaming of flying again.

The next morning Sally and James said to Bird: ‘Would you like to come to school
with us?’ Bird did not really know what school was but as it sounded such a nice
place, hopped of his perch, and followed them.

When they got to school, they smuggled Bird inside, putting a school blazer over
his wings. The teachers did not notice. They went into morning assembly and sat
with the rest of their class, who all shouted at the same time: ‘Look at that bird!’

And then the teachers all noticed too and shouted: ‘Look at that bird!’. And then
the whole school shouted: ‘LOOK AT THAT BIRD!’.

The head teacher came over to Sally and James and Bird and said: ‘We have a
large bird in the school, excellent! Do come to the front of the school Bird, we
are incredibly pleased to see you.’ And then she spoke to the whole school. ‘We
are lucky today to have an incredibly special visitor. And here he is, a large bird.
And what do we always say to important visitors?

The whole school answered as one ‘Good morning Mr. Bird’

Would anyone like to ask him a question?’ Said the head teacher.

The hands shot up.

And the questions followed . . .

 ‘Where do you live?’

‘Can you fly?’

‘Do you have any brothers or sisters?’

‘How old are you?’

‘Do you lay eggs?’

Why aren’t you pretty?’

And then something magical happened. Bird could suddenly understand some
English words. Up to then he could only understand Bird language and the word
bird. He had been taken to school, it was his first day and was learning already.

Although Bird could not speak, he made signing actions with his wings and tweets
and squawks with his beak to answer the children’s questions as best he could. He
enjoyed his first day at school and thought to himself: ‘I’m learning such a lot
already. I wonder if the teachers can teach me to fly again?’

‘What an adventure!’ Bird thought to himself.

Follow-Up: Remember to read the story in parts and to read it to your child
again. You may ask your child to help you to extend the story and give it a new
ending.