This project ran from Monday 12th to Sunday 18th September.
The project was picked because we had a home education workshop on owls at Herrings Green Activity Farm, and as we had had a project on owls previously (see Project 194: Owls) we thought we would do something slightly different.
At the farm they learnt about owls, saw some baby owls being fed, and got to handle some owls.
To keep more feather focused we also went on a feather hunt and made our own quills.
We had just gotten the board game Wingspan, so it was also a good excuse to play a few games of that.
Sam has been wanting to do a project on owls since he first started home education, and with the ease in Covid restrictions, and the nice weather, it seemed a good opportunity to visit Baytree Owl & Wildlife Centre.
The only downside to the day was that it was a bit too hot and it was mainly all outside. Nonetheless the children all had a great time and learned lots about different owls and their habits. There were lots of other birds of prey there too, and they saw a falconry display, which was very engaging and informative.
We also bought an owl pellet for dissection, as owls regurgitate parts of their dinner that they cannot digest such as bones and fur. We extracted the rodent bones (which the children enjoyed trying to identify) so that we could rearrange them into a skeleton.
We watched the film Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, which the children all enjoyed, and Solomon is particularly keen on reading the series of books.
As always, we like to finish the week with a craft:
As we had a home education trip to Johnson's of Old Hurst organized, as well as a family trip to see Dippy at Norwich Cathedral, 'Reptiles' seemed to be an appropriate project to bring the two trips together.
Viewing Dippy itself didn't take that long, but there were a few other activities to do around the cathedral, and the children enjoyed it. There was also a dinosaur trail around Norwich:
Johnson's of Old Hurst is a bit of a local curiosity, combining a butchers and crocodile farm, alongside a shop, restaurant, woodland walk, play area and a selection of other animals. The children all enjoyed the opportunity to hold a tortoise and touch a snake, along with hearing a talk on meerkats and feeding the donkeys:
