Earth Day Twitter Party with Safari Ltd.

Come celebrate Earth Day with good conversation and prizes at another fun Twitter party sponsored by Safari Ltd.!

Safari Ltd. was originally inspired by an endangered species card game discovered by the founders Bernard and Rosemarie Ruble while visiting the Munich Zoo in Germany. Today, their daughter Ramona Pariente is the owner and CEO and her son, Alexander Pariente is the president. 

This family owned company's mission is to teach the importance of nature and it's conservation through the joy of play. 

You can read more about the organizations Safari Ltd. supports here and the ways they support ecologically sound business practices here. 

I can't wait to celebrate Earth Day with such an earth-conscious company! 

The Party Details:

• The Safari Ltd. Earth Day Twitter Party will be 9-10pm EST on Monday, April 22nd
• Follow #educationalplay
• Follow your hosts @SafariLtd and @ChildhoodBeckon
• Prizes are limited to residents of the US and Canada. 
• By participating, you are consenting to the use of your Twitter ID and responses for promotional purposes.
• Please RSVP below to let us know you'll be attending

RSVP:

More Ways to Connect:

You can also connect with Safari Ltd. on Facebook for fun pictures and promotions. Their current contest is in honor of Earth Day. You could win a Toob of your choice just by sending Safari Ltd. a picture of your family going green or doing something to help the planet! Click here for more details. 

You can also connect with Safari Ltd. on Pinterest! 

We hope to see you all on Earth Day! 

Homemade Bird Nester Learning Activity

Each season has it's own learning opportunities and we're taking advantage of those unique to spring. Recently, we learned a bit about birds and how they make their nests. We created these bird nesters as a fun follow up activity to reinforce the things we learned while making our backyard birds happy.

What is a bird nester? A bird nester is a collection of nesting materials that you can set out just like you would a bird feeder. We actually used a suet bird feeder as our box and filled it with bits of yarn. We found our suet cage at Walmart for less than three dollars, and we plan to use it as a feeder later in the year.

Nesting Materials-

• Yarn
• Twine
• Scraps of fabric
• Dried grasses
• Small twigs
• Dead leaves
• Pine needles
• Hair
• Pet fur

Dryer lint is not recommended because it's dense and doesn't dry quickly, keeping the nest cold and wet. You should also stay away from plastics and things like fishing line. When offering yarn, twine, etc. the recommended length is around 3-8 inches. 

I wanted this activity to really focus on the things we've been learning, so I used this time to discuss camouflage. I brought out my collection of yarn scraps in various colors and I let R decide which colors he thought would be best to help the birds hide their nests. We decided on earth tones and used various colors of brown, green, and tan.

This activity also helped me sneak in some math and scissor practice. R happily measured and snipped until we had more than enough to fill our nester. In fact, we even created one as a gift for his nana. This would be a great gift for anyone that loves bird watching.

The learning and fun doesn't stop there! We hung ours in a low traffic area that was still visible. It's really interesting to watch the birds come and go. Record the types of birds that visit by drawing them in a nature journal and use a field guide for your area to identify them.

Want to learn a little more about birds and their nesting habits? We loved this video! 

What are your favorite springtime learning activities?

Ultimate Birthday Bash-Dinosaur Party

I am so thrilled to be joining a few of my favorite bloggers as a part of the Ultimate Birthday Bash from Melissa & Doug. The Ultimate Birthday Bash is delivering fun ideas for themes, party games, food, and so much more! Melissa & Doug is sponsoring my posts on how I plan my son's birthday parties, and you can read more about them below!

I'm pleased to share R's dino birthday party. I kept the party pretty simple, but everyone had so much fun. You can visit these posts to learn more about the decorations, the favor bags, and my stress-free way to handle the birthday party activities!

How to Throw a Dinosaur Birthday Party (Part 1)

DIY Dinosaur Birthday Party Favor Bags (Part 2)

Want more Birthday Bash fun? Click here to see ALL our Birthday resources and tips, AND to enter our special Birthday Bash Giveaway, where you could win $500 to throw the Ultimate Birthday Bash from Melissa & Doug! For even more fun, be sure to check out our Birthday Wishes Pinterest Board!

What are some of your best birthday party tips?