Our Garden Birds

This was a five visit project with the senior class based mainly in the school garden where we learned about the birds that visit it to feed and nest. Over the weeks we worked with a wide variety of art materials and techniques to help us notice the natural world around us and remember what we learned.

We played games to identify different local birds and listened to their songs and then observed their varied plumage. We studied their feathers and used charcoal and watercolours to paint them.

We chose a species of bird to investigate and created a collage bird each. We then sculpted our favourite bird from clay and sticks.

It was springtime and the birds were busy building nests. We discussed the kind of materials each type of bird uses and where they build them and then went outside to try our hand at weaving on the outdoor loom. This was lovely as the birds were all around us as we worked.

Once we had the hang of weaving we worked out in the garden to each create a nest from clay and natural materials and then found places around the garden to situate them and photograph them.

On the last week we headed out on a walk around our local area down to the lake, making journey sticks as we went to help remind us where we saw different plants and birds. We saw herons and swans and a huge variety of plants in the woods.

Back in school we drew linear maps and marked in habitats and the different species of plants and birds we saw. We used OS maps to help us create a giant map of the local area.

We all really enjoyed the project, learned a lot about our birds and their habitats and were delighted with the artwork we had created.