Invite children to build their own bird’s nest with collected sticks outside. This activity explores building with sticks but also invites children to engage in dramatic play.
Set up Time: 5 minutes
Directions
- Go outside and collect sticks.
- First make one large circle with sticks on the ground. Add sticks around and around, building and stacking until you’ve made a large nest on the ground.
- Play inside the nest!
Materials
- Collected sticks
Learning Through Play
Cognitive: Problem Solving – Building with sticks is a great opportunity for problem solving. What sticks make a good base? How can we angle the sticks so they hold up the nest? Do any sticks have branches that get in the way of building? What do we do?
Social-Emotional: Self-Regulation – Enclosed spaces (dens, forts, boxes, and nests) create little worlds for young children. Invite children to bring a book, milk, or a favorite doll into their nest.
School Readiness: Shapes – Use this as an opportunity to talk about the qualities of the sticks, as you pick sticks that are long, short, straight, and curved to build your round nest. This is a kinesthetic way to study lines, which help us draw shapes later on in school!
See this activity in the Rayz Kidz app along with the other fun activities. Rayz Kidz is your trusted source for play-based activities featuring over 100 themes and 500+ hands-on activities and clear descriptions of the beautiful learning that is happening through play.
