This one's for the birds!

I'm constantly on the lookout for new activities and projects to try with Jonah, especially ones that are seasonally relevant and allow all three of us to have a bit of fun together. Earlier this month (or maybe last), I came across a link to create molded bird seed "ornaments" that can be put out for the birds to enjoy.  As Jonah enjoys looking at animals in his books, out the windows (this time of year), and at the zoo, I thought it would be a fun activity that would allow us to talk about the birds and what they eat, practice some stirring and "measuring" types of skills, and allow Jonah to feel new textures. Plus we could mold them into hearts, tying into Valentine's Day coming later in the week.  A week ago, we saw a beautiful red cardinal in the back yard and it's exciting to think about Jonah watching the cardinal come around to eat his creation and being able to watch the cardinal further.

I knew it would be a messy project and assumed we would be using the vacuum to clean up from the get-go. I wasn't quite prepared for how exactly he would play with the bird seed, though.  He simply picked it up in his hands, put them over his head, and dropped the seed on the ground! 

This was messy, but also instructive in terms of how the different types of seeds bounced (cracked corn versus sunflower seeds, for example).  We used measuring cups to pour the seed around in the bin (or on the floor) and into some metal muffin tins (which make a different sound than the plastic bin).

Overall, Jonah wasn't too terribly interested in helping to make the ornaments (I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised), but he did assist in putting some of the seed into the bowl to be mixed in, as you can watch here:

Ben hid a few of Jonah's toys in the birdseed for a complete sensory bin experience.  Here's some video showing Jonah playing with the measuring cups and discovering the toys in the seed:

Overall, Jonah was pretty quiet for the majority of the nearly one hour that we spent engaged in this activity.  This is rather unusual for him, as he is constantly jabbering, but we think he was simply having a great time, concentrating on what he was doing and thinking about what he might be able to do with the seed and tools at hand.  Hopefully it was a very good learning experience for him; he returned to the kitchen several times in the evening looking for the seed. We have a feeling he will LOVE the sand box this summer.
 
We knew Jonah got birdseed everywhere while he was playing, but the biggest surprise was finding a fair number of seeds IN his diaper when we changed him!  Now that takes talent (and no, he did not eat the seeds).

The ornaments are currently drying and we'll probably hang them next weekend, the next opportunity we'll likely have in the light. I'll post pictures later and will hopefully be able to report on some birdwatching activities as well.