Preschoolers Watch Nest Building

Teacher’s name: Marcia Wuest

Name of school: Messiah Lutheran Preschool

Location: Port Byron, IL

What grades: Preschool

Your nature report: There is a large wooden cross outside the front doors of the church where our preschool classroom is housed.  Our observations began in March, when we would walk from the church entry to our outdoor classroom.  We began to notice small birds—at least two of them—fly into a hole at the end of the horizontal section of the cross.  We guessed they were chickadees.  Every time we passed the cross after that first time, we would usually see one of the birds peeking out, flying to/from, or bringing grass into the hole in the side of the cross.  It was interesting to see the children become so eager to check on “their” birds and what they were doing.  The interest in this held through the end of the school year.  In fact, several children even drew pictures for us of the cross with the bird inside.  What a gift we can give children when we take the time to help them notice and appreciate the wonderment that exists in the world around us!