Hummingbird Art

Our hummingbird project was an easy one for all the children.

Once again starting with a recycled t.p. roll and our spring theme I thought it would be fun to teach the children a little about hummingbirds.

I gave the children the colors indicated on the sample hummingbird and directed them to try to match their bird as close to the example as possible.

During rest time, I cut and laid out the pieces of the hummingbirds, as they would be attached with glue.

During this time we discussed some of the fascinating facts about hummingbirds.

For example:

-> They have the fastest wing beats of any bird.

-> Hummingbirds may visit 1,000 flowers a day.

-> For protein, hummingbirds eat spiders and strain gnats from mid-air.

-> Hummingbirds feed through a long, tube-like tongue that darts into the flower's corolla for nectar.

-> Their tongues are shaped like a "W".

-> A hummingbird can rotate each of its wings in a circle, allowing them to be the only bird which can fly forwards, backwards, up, down, sideways or sit in sheer space.

-> To hover, hummingbirds move their wings forward and backward in a repeated figure eight, much like the arms of a swimmer treading water.

-> Hummingbirds can move instantaneously in any direction, start from its perch at full speed, and doesn't necessarily slow up to land.

-> Hummingbirds can even fly short distances upside down.

Once we finished our hummingbirds the children demonstrated how hummingbirds fly.