Little Hands Learning | Winter Birds Box

 “A monthly subscription box, inspired by the magic of books.”

Again, I apologise for the lack of photos… sometimes we are just having so much fun in the moment (and I do actually put my phone down!!). I also I realise I am getting so behind with these posts, and I think I’ve got three boxes (plus two Christmas boxes) to write about. Tonight, I’m talking about the second box I ordered in the Black Friday sale. The Winter Birds box was originally released in February 2021 – before we subscribed and became brand reps. It was a good time to order it though, with the sudden change in weather (again… roll on the spring!).

The box was inspired by the book: The Last Chip, written by Duncan Beedie. It tells the story of Percy the Pigeon, who is very hungry, but struggles to find food, as all the animals he comes across on his journey, don’t share. He eventually gets something to eat – the last chip – from the most unlikely source, in what proves to be a heart-warming ending to the tale (it gets me every time!). I must add that proceeds from the sale of The Last Chip are donated to the Trussell Trust, which aims to stop UK hunger and poverty. We were also lucky enough to receive our very own Percy the Pigeon in the Winter Birds box.

The activities in this box were:

• Learn about sharing
• Make a bird feeder
• Make some binoculars
• Post a letter

Feed the birds, tuppence a bag

Unfortunately, we’ve not yet actually fed the birds – but the bird feeder activity is on my agenda for this weekend. We got an email from Alfie’s school about being eco heroes at home (as there’s an eco-committee at school) and one of the suggestions was to make a bird feeder. Photos will be shared as part of a display, so of course, I’ll be getting loads of snaps, as well as mentioning that the bird feeder was part of our Little Hands Learning box! I have noticed that there are birds using the bird house in our back garden again though – so that’s really cool!

Instead, we have fed our pretend birds pretend chips. I cut out the two templates and Alfie and I both decorated a bird each. He went wild with a red felt tip pen, clearing making our friend robin. We made the chips out of the yellow playdough – I got Alfie to shape them in sausage shapes, and I used the knife to cut the ends off. We then practised sharing. Each time, I ensured there were an odd number of chips, so that we both had a go of playing… until Alfie suggested cutting the chips in half so that we’d have a piece each – sharing, of course!

I spy with my little eye…

While we haven’t been able to spy on birds feeding, we have been able to spy on the birds in our bird house – as well as use our makeshift binoculars to look all around the garden. Alfie loved decorating his binoculars and while he has his own pair of kids’ binoculars, he shared and let me borrow them, while he used his handmade ones. I raided the craft trolley to find all kinds of decorations to jazz up our toilet roll tubes and I think they look fabulous. Check out my Instagram to see them in all their glory.

Acts of kindness

Of course, with an act of kindness in the story, it was time for us to also make someone smile. In one of our previous boxes – the Healthy Minds box – we created a kindness jar with post-it notes. It has stayed on our kitchen table since making it and Alfie loves to pick out a random act… in fact, making a card (or writing a letter) for someone is in there. And with that in mind, we decided to make a card to my mum to say thank you for hosting Christmas and having us over for numerous sleepovers! I gave Alfie complete free reign, and he wrote ‘thank you’ on the front, before drawing three hearts (which he asked me to colour in – yellow, mum’s favourite colour). Carrier pigeon would probably be a lot quicker than Royal Mail at the moment, so while I addressed and put the stamp on the envelope, we didn’t post it and just gave it to mum when she came up to visit!

Unfortunately, the Winter Birds box is no longer in stock, but if you’re looking for a bargain, The Boy & The Bear is on sale (read my Little Hands Learning review). And don’t forget, whether you’re looking for a one-off box, want to subscribe or want to nab the limited-edition book bundles, you can receive a discount on all orders in the shop by using my discount code LUCYLOCKET – just remember to mention that I sent you.

Follow Little Hands Learning on Instagram for sneak peeks of future boxes, plus lots of educational ideas, fun crafts and experiments.

Love, Lucy xx