Fun science with feathered friends!
Explore the science related to birds and their habitats.
Four cute cygnets, who hatch later in spring – something to look forward to!
We've gathered a huge flock of bird-related activities for you in this activity collection.
- All of the activities are available when you are logged in to Explorify – all are suitable for use in the classroom or via screensharing.
- For a smaller collection of activities suitable for parents and carers of one or more children who are now learning at home, try our Explorify at home: Birds collection.
The activities are divided into age ranges. Take a look through and pick some for your class to explore at home or in the classroom!
Age 5-7
These three fun animals – a baby duckling, a lamb, and an elephant – are perfect for a light Odd One Out.
Spark a conversation with this What's Going On? video showing an egret hunting for food.
This video showing baby birds being fed is a favourite with pupils – and teachers!
A wonderful array of animals on the move feature in this fun What's Going On? video, including a grizzly bear, meerkats, chickens, penguins, ostriches, greylag geese, a pangolin, flamingos, langur monkeys and kangaroos!
We might think mainly of birds hatching from egg, but this video will introduce another sort of animal hatching - a reptile! Indeed, the majority of animals reproduce by laying eggs including all insects, fish, amphibians, reptiles and (of course) birds.
This Zoom In Zoom Out starts with a yellow feathery texture… will your little scientists be able to use their reasoning to work out what the final picture will show?
In these Odd One Out images, you see three baby birds in the nest - a rook, a long tailed tit, and a swan with their cygnet.
Age 7-9
Not for the faint hearted, this death-defying barnacle gosling jump is a heart-stopping jumping off point for a discussion of habitats and much more.
This wonderful, fascinating video with David Attenborough meeting a Lyrebird, famous for its ability to mimic sounds from its environment, will prompt wonder in your class and a rich discussion.
Knock me down, this Zoom In Zoom Out starts with strange stripes and ends with… a feather! Can your little scientists work out what it is?
This beautiful video shows and compares in detail the flight of three birds, a pigeon, a peregrine falcon, and a magisterial barn owl, silent as the night. Great for developing understandings of animals, and of sound.
The three birds shown here are an ostrich, a wren and a barn owl. Which will your little scientists think is the Odd One Out?
Another Big Question investigation to really get your class thinking like scientists. How will they investigate which birds migrate and which choose to stay?
Zoom out on the skeleton of a pink-footed goose. Can your class use their reasoning skills to work out what it is?
Spark a conversation with this video giving a glimpse into the African savanna. Has your class ever wondered how different animals drink water?
Three skeletons – a bird, a snake, and an elephant – will get your learners deciding which one is the Odd One Out and why. Encourage a reason for every answer (and there is no wrong answer)!
Age 9-11
Dinosaurs! These two, ancestors of modern birds (and a chicken), are sure to get your class' discussion roaring.
Get your class thinking and talking with this fun question! Having a broad question means you'll get a wide range of ideas coming from your pupils.
Which is the Odd One Out of these three different beaks? Get a discussion going with a puffin, a lapwing and a macaw.
Just as the early bird gets the worm, in this astounding What's Going On? video from BBC Earth, the clever bird gets its dinner…
Put your class' observation skills to the test with these three tree-dwelling animals: a sloth, a 'monkey frog', and a crimson sunbird!
Which is the Odd One Out of these three, unusual, blackbirds of different colours? Remember, there's no wrong answer in the discussion!
Put your class' observation skills to the test with this Odd One Out featuring a bat, a pterodactyl and a dragonfly. None of the three is a bird (they are a mammal, a reptile and an insect respectively), yet they all fly!
We hope you enjoy teaching these activities! As a little bird told us, if you let them spread their wings, your budding scientists will take to these activities like ducks to water!
Image credit: Close-up of 4 Mute Swan cygnets (Cygnus olor) swimming close together by Ger Bosma Photos via Shutterstock SL