Birds for kids

What's here

Twelve birds covering the whole spread: backyard regulars, show-offs, and two that can't fly at all. Tap a bird and it whistles, struts, hovers, or waddles, then shows one fact that explains what you just watched.

Birds are everywhere your toddler already is, on the fence, at the feeder, in the parking lot, which makes this one of the easiest themes to carry outside.

Meet these first

• Cardinal. A bright red bird that whistles a cheerful little song.
• Penguin. Can't fly in the sky, but zooms super fast swimming underwater.
• Peacock. Spreads its giant sparkly tail like a fan to show off.
• Ostrich. Too big to fly, yet it can outrun a galloping horse.
• Owl. Turns its head almost all the way around to peek behind itself.
• Hummingbird. Flaps so fast its wings make an actual humming sound.
• Toucan. That great big colorful beak is much lighter than it looks.
• Parrot. Clever enough to learn to say words, just like your toddler is doing.

Robin, swan, woodpecker, and eagle fill out the flock.

How to play (60 seconds)

Waddle like a penguin across the kitchen. Then flap your arms as fast as you can like a hummingbird, spread pretend tail feathers like a peacock, and run like an ostrich. Each bird moves differently, so this theme is really a movement game with vocabulary attached. Back on the screen, hunt by feature: the red one, the one with the big beak, the one who turned his head backwards.

Good to know

Birds hand you action words at a stage when most of a toddler's vocabulary is nouns. Fly, hop, run, swim, and waddle all get used naturally here, and verbs are the pieces that later turn single words into little sentences. Say the action as you both do it, and the word rides along with the movement.

Keep exploring

The printables page has free word cards that work great as a bird-spotting game by the window.

For more feathers, zoo animals has a flamingo asleep on one leg, pets has a canary and a parakeet who whistle indoors, ocean animals covers where the penguin swims, and bugs is what half these birds are hunting for lunch. Everything else is on the homepage.