Welcome to another Wandering Wednesday! My name is Madison Beirne. I am the outdoor education specialist for Forest Park Forever. While we are #AtHomeWithForestPark, our education team is continuing to share activities with you once a week for you to do with your children at home.

Have you noticed a lot more bird activity lately? We are coming up on the great spring bird migration here in the Midwest! Did you know there are over 200 species of birds in Forest Park? Here are two simple activities that you can do at home that also promote mindfulness.  

Activity 1
Sound Counts: this activity only requires your body and something to keep track of time. 

Have children close their eyes and use their fingers to count how many different sounds they hear over a one-minute period. This serves as a meditative and focused activity that invites the kids to take their surroundings in. Remind children to count sounds once. For example, if a bird chirps and the same bird sound is heard another time, count this only once. When the time is up, ask questions like: 

• How many sounds did you hear? 

• What were the sounds? 

• What sounds were natural? What sounds weren’t? 

• When might we hear the most sounds in this location? 

• How will sounds change during the year? 

Activity 2
Bird Counts: for this activity, you will need this bird count chart. 

Spend five minutes outside observing your surroundings. Make note of the date and time of your observations. When you see a bird, make a tally on the chart. If you observe a bird that is not on the chart, the Merlin app by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a great resource for identifying what you saw. For interesting results, set a timer and observe birds daily.

• How do your observations change at different times of day?

• Which birds are more active? There are so many great possibilities!