Thinking Spring with a Spring Theme Group Activity

I have been working in some classrooms lately that have spring themes going on in their curriculum.   It's fun to look for ways that I can incorporate something similar into group activities and work tasks as I am able to.  I did the following activity for one of my group sessions with a classroom of kids with various disabilities/abilities:

Pine Cone Bird Feeders

You need:

• pine cones 
• shortening (you can also use peanut butter, but to avoid allergy issues, I use shortening)
• bird seed
• string
• knives or spatulas for spreading
• zip lock bags

Spread the shortening on the pine cone.  This is a good bilateral task (using 2 hands together).  

For kids who have less fine motor ability or who need hand over hand assistance, spatulas work better than knives.

Sprinkle the shortening covered pine cone with birdseed.  This is a good way to work on finger to thumb opposition and to get some tactile stimulation from the bird seed.

Tie a string around the top of the pine cone (this is good to do before you even start, but in the course of getting started, we forgot!), and place the pine cone bird feeder into a zip lock bag for the students to take home. 

Hang in a tree to feed the birds!