My children love to bird watch. It is never unusual for them to exclaim about a bird they have spotted no matter where we are–in the car, at the park, in our own yard. I love that they have an eye of appreciation for nature around them and that’s why we had a great time exploring the book A Nest Full of Eggs by Priscilla Belz Jenkins from the Let’s Read-and-Find-Out Series and then following it up with a fun bird nest yarn craft and printables!
This book takes a look into how American robins build their nests, lay eggs, care for their young hatchlings, and raise the babies to adulthood. It also takes a look at the parts of an egg, stages of incubation, various types of bird feathers and their purpose, and the different places that a robin may construct their nest.
I love picture book style nonfiction because it keeps children engaged in topics that they might find more dry in a more standard textbook style volume. We always love to bring some of our books to life and this one was no exception! We chose to create something that could decorate our home, so we created a bird nest yarn mobile!
Bird Nest Yarn Craft Supplies
- yarn in a variety of colors (We chose to use more natural tones, but you could use any shade. Use your imagination!)
- wreath frame
- hot glue gun
- pipe cleaners
- scissors
- paper towels
Start with your wreath frame. Using whatever yarn colors you choose for the nest portion of the mobile, tie the ends to the inside circle of the frame. We used two colors, a sage green and tan. Pull out a long length of the yarn and cut it loose from the skeins. Wrap it all around a pencil to make for an easier time with the next step.
Begin to wrap the yarn around the frame. If you happen to get to the end of your mini skein on your pencil, simply knot together the end to more yarn and keep wrapping! TIP: have one person hold the frame while another wraps.
Once your frame is covered, tie the loose end to a strand of yarn. Cut a large handful of loose yarn in the same colors. Glue them around the frame to give the appearance of loose twigs and grass on your nest.
Trim the edges a bit, but don’t worry about being too neat. Nests are a bit messy in their organization!
Next, choose another three colors of yarn to create your own birds! I used this tutorial without the wire or the stickers. I wanted to keep a more rustic look. I cut small pieces of craft foam and hot glued them to the finished birds for beaks.
Now you’re ready for the mobile assembly! I used pipe cleaners, carefully tucked under a portion of the top of the yarn birds and then tied to yarn to attach the birds and then additional yarn to create the hanger.
Now you have your own hanging bird nest with its aviary family flying about under its perch. A simple craft using mostly materials that you may already have lying around your home! It makes a cute decoration for a child’s room. I wouldn’t recommend leaving it outside unless you coated it with something to weather proof it.
American Robin Life Cycle Printables
After you’ve completed your bird nest yarn craft, you can take the learning from A Nest Full of Eggs a step further with these printables! This pack includes a poster that shows a simplified version of the robin’s life cycle for young children AND includes a book for emerging readers that they can color!
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE AMERICAN ROBIN LIFE CYCLE PRINTABLES
More Bird Nest Craft Fun
- Bird Nest Sensory Bin
- Bird Nest Paper Plate Craft
- Baby Birds and Nest for Toddlers and Preschoolers
- Paper Bag Nests
- Blue Birds and Cupcake Liner Nests
- Plastic Egg Bird Nest
- Rice Krispie Treat Nests
- Invitation to Build a Nest
- Life Sized Bird Nest with Recyclable Materials
I’ve teamed up with 25+ other bloggers who will each share some fantastic books with accompanying activities from the LET’S READ AND FIND OUT series of books. Make sure to click the graphic below to check out all the posts and find even more great learning experiences for your children!
I love this! Such a creative activity to follow the book 🙂