As we gear up for going back-to-school and the end of these lazy-days-of summer, we welcome another exceptional article, What Makes Bird-Watching Educational & Fun Indoors, by Rose Morrison. This article is full of fun tips that help us make the transition to fall and to being more indoors with ways to appreciate nature. Please be sure to read Rose’s bio below and follow the link to her other articles on Slipcovers for Your Walls.
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During the pandemic, a meme circulated of a human watching the birds through her window — with her cat. Her kitty’s comment? “I told you this was fun!”
You can learn a lot from your feline friends. Bird-watching is a relaxing and entertaining hobby for people of all ages. It can bring generations together as grandparents and toddlers share the magic and mystery of the avian world.
Watching nature through a window pane was a way to find connection during the pandemic. Time with nature decreases stress and brings a sense of wonder into your life. That’s one of many reasons that bird-watching is such a valuable activity for children and adults alike.
Humans Need Connection with the Natural World
People need a connection with the natural world to protect their mental health. A walk in the park, a hiking trip or even watching trees through a window can reduce stress. Science has shown that what happens in your mind affects your body — it’s vital to tend to your emotional well-being.
Fortunately, doing so could be as simple as changing up your artwork, at least in your office cubicle. Research shows that looking at pictures of natural scenes eases work stress and increases your overall productivity.
Your bird-watching hobby might inspire you to bring more of the outdoors in, harmonizing your environment. Soft, natural tones like tan and gray and calming light blue can enhance your home’s decor and raise your resale value. They’re popular because they soothe your soul, and many people need a little extra TLC after a stressful day at work.
[A flexible design can be easily derived with reusable wallpaper as seen in this Nature Noticed design from Casart Coverings with some birds noticed during the pandemic lock down.]
Your children also seek connection with the natural world, and bird-watching is the ideal way for kids of all ages to engage with nature. Young tykes might enjoy reading books like “Mama Had a Little Nest” by Jennifer Ward, then seeing what kinds of nests they can identify the next time they go to the playground. Older children might take a field guide and go wild for an entire afternoon.
You can also encourage a child’s love of the avian world by enhancing their decor. Why not consider using wallpaper featuring birds or painting a colorful bird mural on your younger child’s bedroom walls? You can include their favorite species, even Archeopteryx, the famous dinosaur bird. [Or, get them involved by hand-coloring birds and personalizing Chinoiserie press-and-apply, coloring-book wallpaper.]
What Makes Birds & Bird-Watching so Exceptional?
What makes bird-watching, in particular, so educational and fun for people of all ages? Bird-watching is accessible, entertaining and exciting. Consider the following benefits you and your children can reap from birdwatching, and even indoors:
- Increases physical activity level: When you bird-watch indoors, you might dash from window to window to follow your avian friends’ movements. Outdoor bird-watching is more strenuous, since it involves hiking while carrying snacks and camera equipment.
- Improves mental alertness and attention: Do you struggle to stay focused throughout the day? Bird-watching can improve your attention span because it requires patience. Sometimes, you must wait and watch for hours before seeing the species you’re interested in.
- Reduces pain: It may sound kooky, but bird-watching increases endorphins, which are feel-good chemicals often associated with exercise. However, this activity also prompts your brain to release them, flooding your body with feel-good hormones.
- Offers alternatives for allergy sufferers: Outdoor activities can make allergy sufferers miserable in the spring and fall. However, bird-watching indoors lets them explore nature without risking the sniffles.
- Encourages healthy competition: You can challenge your little ones to see who can identify the largest number of birds first or recognize them by their songs. Bird-watching is also a great learning opportunity for adults, who are often too busy to stop and smell the roses.
- Increases laughter: Laughter is one of the best medicines for easing pain. It also strengthens relationships — consider how close you feel when you and your family share a good laugh. Bird-watching invariably introduces you to some playful antics among our avian kin and their friends, the chipmunks and squirrels.
- Promotes environmental stewardship: Multiple studies suggest that children raised with a love of nature become better stewards of the environment when they become adults. This matters in today’s world of rapid climate change.
8 Activities to Make Bird-Watching Educational and Fun
Not sure how to engage with birds from inside your house? Here are a few games to help make bird-watching easy, educational and fun. These activities can be followed alone, or you can complete them with family members.
1. Name That Bird
You play this game as the title suggests. When you or your kiddos spy a species in a nearby tree, you race to identify it. You can use books or one of today’s popular apps to label the correct genus and species.
You can create any rules you like, perhaps awarding a prize for the first person to identify five unique species that frequent your backyard. Have some fun at family dinnertime, asking your kiddos to share the results of their research with the rest of the clan.
2. Eat Like a Bird
Identifying the genus and species is only half the battle. Fancy Latin terms don’t tell you much about your avian friends. Hone your child’s research skills in a fun way by having them Google information about the species they find. Ask them questions like the following:
- What does your bird eat?
- How many eggs does your bird typically lay?
- Where can you find this species in the wild?
3. Build a Bird Feeder
Building a bird feeder is a popular school craft activity because it isn’t challenging for even little hands to master. You can have just as much fun at home. All you need are some empty toilet paper or paper towel rolls, peanut butter, string and bird seed.
Poke a hole to run the string through the top of the cardboard tube. Coat it with peanut butter and roll it in bird seed. Voila! All you have to do is hang it from a tree limb outside your favorite window and wait for your hungry visitors to appear.
4. Construct a Birdhouse
Do you have a budding “Bob the Builder” at home? If so, why not challenge your DIY skills and build a birdhouse together?
You can find no shortage of kits in department stores or online. If you’re feeling green, DIY with free wood from repurposed pallets from your local hardware store and a handy pattern.
5. Create a Feather Wreath
You can make a wreath out of nearly anything, including colorful bird feathers you find at the park or in your yard. All you need is a styrofoam ring from a dollar store as a base. You can also add real or artificial flowers, garlands or branches. Intersperse your feathery finds to add a burst of color.
6. Fold Some Bird Origami
According to legend, folding 1,000 paper cranes will restore a person to health. While this trick may or may not work, there’s nothing wrong with teaching your kids this ancient Japanese art and letting them adorn their ceilings.
7. Make a Bird Bath
If you have a little more money, why not invest in a bird bath for your yard? You’ll increase your number of avian visitors. Birds love these devices for the same reasons people enjoy swimming — it keeps them cool and clean.
8. Tune In
Did you know you can continue your love of bird-watching after dark? All you need is a way to tune into YouTube and search for “bird videos for cats.” You’ll find entire channels dedicated to avian beauty, and they’re hours of fun for your two-legged and fur family alike.
Bird-Watching Is a Great Indoor Activity
Did you get into bird-watching during the pandemic? If you want to reconnect with nature from the comfort of your own home, bird-watching is an incredible solution that’s perfect for the entire family. Try some of the activities above and enjoy a rewarding learning experience as you reconnect with the beauty of nature.
[Click on these previous educational & interactive posts that help ease the transition for getting back in the groove for fall.]
Additional resources:
[As we move more indoors for fall weather and the outside light dims, there are many educational tools that help with this connection to nature from Cornell Ornithology Lab. Their Merlin app makes bird-watching an eye-opening experience and encourages interaction with the natural world through discovery. They have programs for all ages, like live video bird cams and the Backyard Bird-Watching Count that also helps Cornell document birds around the world.
One of Cornell’s many games, like The Wall of Birds, is both informational and interactive. Click here to see Casart Covering’s involvement in this beautiful Wall of Birds mural by InkDwell.
Click this video to see the diagram of seasonal bird migration from North to South America documented by GPS.]
Read these great tips: The Beginner’s Guide to Birding.
Many thanks to Rose for this article with lots of helpful ways to enjoy nature and bird-watching, and even from the comfort of inside our homes.
About the author:
Rose Morrison is a home improvement and design writer.
She is also the managing editor of Renovated. Follow her on Twitter to see more of her work.
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