One of the best aspects about birding—besides the birds, of course—is getting outdoors and seeing nature. While backyard birding offers familiarity, going on walks at local parks or nature center makes birding something new and exciting every week.
Make kids research ways to attract new birds
A great way to make birding a great learning experience is to encourage kids to research how to attract different species to your yard. For example, if there are Evening Grosbeaks in the area, then you should encourage them to research on the Internet or in ID books the types of food or environment they like. This would also help increase their bird list.
Turn the kids onto birding apps
Although letting kids use smartphones and computer devices seems to go against the birding mantra of getting outdoors, birding apps are interesting, intuitive and educational. Using apps as supplemental items for kids will teach them a lot about bird behaviors, documenting sightings and reporting to eBird.
