Use Fractions While Making a Bird Feeder

Jul 24, 2018

Combine the fun of feeding your local birds and building your child’s measuring and fraction skills while you create a homemade bird feeder.

Before You Play

Invite your child to observe the birds around your neighborhood. What kinds of birds are common? You can use the Internet or a bird book to identify the different species. Has your child noticed the birds eating? What do they eat? Explain that bird feeders are a fun way to attract birds. Invite your child to make a bird feeder with you!

Materials

Individual measuring cups or one large measuring cup
Pinecone or whole fruit (like an apple)
Peanut butter
Peanuts, sunflower seeds, raisins, and cranberries for bird seed mixture
Mixing bowl
Spoon or butter knife for spreading
String

Directions

If you have individual measuring cups, have your child lay them out from smallest (1/4 cup) to biggest (1 cup). If you have a single measuring cup, help your child identify the fractions on the side of the cup. Explain that a fraction is a part of a whole.

Help your child to measure 1/4 cup of each of the following: peanuts, raisins, sunflower seeds and cranberries. Pour these into a mixing bowl.

Explain to your child that the four parts of the birdseed mixture equal one whole batch of birdseed. Then ask:

What fraction of the mixture do the seeds make up? (1/4)
What fraction of the mixture do the nuts make up? (1/4)
And what fraction of the mixture does the fruit make up? (1/2)

Measure 1/3 cup peanut butter. Ask your child: How many 1/3 cups of peanut butter would it take to get one cup?

To build your bird feeder, use a spoon or butter knife to spread the 1/3 cup of peanut butter over the outside of the pinecone or a whole fruit.

Give your child the pinecone or fruit to roll in the birdseed mixture.

Tie a string to the top of your bird feeder and hang it from a tree branch. Note: Birds enjoy a variety of healthy nuts and fruits; however, check online to make sure any substitutes are appropriate for your local species!

Observe the bird feeder daily to estimate what fraction of the food has been eaten. Help your child to keep track of the fractions in a notebook.

Encourage your child to use tally marks to keep track of the different kinds of birds that ate from the bird feeder during a week or another period of time.

Add up the tally marks for each kind of bird and then help your child to use fractions to compare the findings. For example: Eight kinds of birds ate at the feeder, and two of them were cardinals. So 1/4 of the birds eating at the feeder were cardinals.