Early Bird, a Bengaluru-based not-for-profit initiative working towards bringing children and adults closer to nature through birds, will be hosting an intensive one-month-long Young Birders’ Workshop for children this summer. The workshop is aimed specifically at children between the ages of 10 and 13, who are in the intermediate stage of their birdwatching journey, says Misha Bansal, Project Coordinator, Early Bird, who will be co-facilitating the workshop. “It is not for complete beginners who don’t know anything, but for kids who started watching birds and need the right mentorship, opportunity and guidance to move beyond just identifying birds or knowing their names,” she says.
Green spaces
Using a combination of multimedia, guided interactions, discussions and activities, facilitators will introduce young people to different themes related to birds, helping them independently explore green spaces around their homes. In addition to the online classes held every week, there will be supplementary videos and activity sheets, which the kids will go through on their own, filling their journals after doing these activities. “There will also be sharing classes in the middle of each week,” says Bansal. “This age group really likes to share and are very excited to talk about what they have seen. So, we have separate classes just for that.”
Bronze-winged Jacana | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Busting the myth
The four-week-long programme is completely online, making it accessible to any child who has stable access to the internet and a space outside their homes. “It could even just be a balcony or terrace from which they can see birds easily,” says Bansal, who hopes that these classes will nudge children to make more observations and derive conclusions from these observations. She adds that the classes are also about busting the myth that you need to visit far-off jungles or wildlife sanctuaries to see birds. Instead, it helps children understand and get close to their immediate environment, “the space where you will spend the most amount of time in your life,” she says.
The Young Birders’ Workshop is free to attend, but registered participants will be charged a fee of Rs. 800 for materials. Registrations are open till April 22. To know more, log into www.early-bird.in.
