Week 2: Water Birds

Geese, swans, grebes, loons and DUCKS!  What do they have in common?  They live a good chunk of their lives on the water and today, we learned all about them. 

After a review of what makes a bird, we focused on the duck's webbed feet.  Each child had the chance to pull a large fork (regular foot) and a spatula (webbed foot) through a tub of water.  The kids were able to feel the difference it makes to have webbed feet to make water move. 

Then we settled in to listen to a flannel board rhyme about five little ducks swimming in a pond.

Five Little Ducks Swimming in a Pond

One little duck was swimming in a pond and then she saw a friend.
Now two little ducks were swimming in a pond and then they saw a friend.
Now three little ducks were swimming in a pond and then they saw a friend.
Now four little ducks were swimming in a pond and then they saw a friend.
Now how many ducks are swimming in the pond?
1-2-3-4-5 Little Ducks!

We did two crafts this week.  The first was a duck paper bag puppet and the other was painting duck feet of lengths of roll paper using fly swatters cut to look like duck feet. 

The kids were also given the chance to try on swimming flippers to see what it is like to have duck feet. 



Painting with fly swatters cut to look like duck feet.
A big mess but SO fun!

 

Next we were little ducks going out one day over the hills and far away. I sang "Five Little Ducks Went Out One Day" and I carried with me five toy ducks (everything from a pink rubber duck to a life-like stuffed animal female mallard).  At each verse I hid one of the ducks, counting down to none, then brought them all back. We did the same song again back in the classroom with the ducks in the parachute.  The song, as always, was a big hit! 

To close our day, we read one our family's favorites Little Quack by Lauren Thompson and illustrated by Derek Anderson.  Our friends enjoyed it as much as our family does. 

E put her top bill on upside down,
but he's still cute as can be!

We finished up by dancing to "Six Little Ducks" with our paper bag suck puppets being sure to shake our tail feathers as we sang "quack, quack, quack!"

 

Each family was given a copy of this free Five Little Ducks stick puppet printable to relive the fun at home.

Lisa at Libraryland is hosting this week's Flannel Friday. Visit the Flannel Friday blog for more information on our group.