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EducationConserving Birds by Connecting PeopleA mural will be made that can tell the storyof birds in the community.ObjectivesParticipants will design and paint a muralRecommended Ages Children 7-17Activity Time In Class:: Approximately 1.5 hours, or2 sessions of 45 minutes. At Festival: Set-up 30 minutes, visitorsself-pace, could be an unmanned activityMaterials Medium of choice for the muralNewsprint and masking tapeAcrylic or Tempera paint, and brushes,Blank paper 8x11Pencils, colored pencils or crayonsChart paper and markersOptional: Storybooks or other props to talkabout murals.Make it a Festival Activity Print Black & White mural at Staples orKinkos (cost 7.00). Mural available on birdday website. Paints, brushes, Buckets of water for rinsing brushesActivity in ActionSend your comments and pictures on thisactivity to bday@birdday.org.Get Involved! Discover easy, fun ways to learn andconnect with others while spreading bird conservationawareness—join the EFTA Flock at BirdDay.orgEnvironment for the Americas 2129 13th Street, Suite IInteractive ActivityMake aBird MuralEnvironmentfor the AmericasOverviewlMurals tell stories through art. People have painted muralsfor centuries to tell stories and communicate about issuesimportant to them. Murals can depict stories about history,social issues, conservation, and more. A mural can tell a storythrough a collection of images or one main image.The artist Rafael Lopez, whose beautiful artwork is the featurefor International Migratory Bird Day 2012, is also a muralist.On his website you can view pictures of Mr. Lopez creatingmurals and community members helping. View the pictures athttp://www.rafaellopez.com/#/murals.Preparation for Making a Mural1. Choose your medium. Will the mural be painted on canvas,wood, or roll of paper? (Sand & paint wood with a primer.)2. Consider where the mural will hang. Decide where and howyou will hang the mural.3. Read through the entire activity.4.Decide how you will introduce it & what props (books or mural pictures) you will use.Gather your painting materials. You will need brushes, paint,and for drawing details--sharpies, markers, or pastels.5. Identify an area for a draft. On your classroom floor or wall,measure out and mark with masking tape the same size areathat the mural will be. You can also cut newsprint to thesame size as your mural for the draft layout.6. Prepare your medium. If you use paper, double layer it ifneeded to make it stronger. Also, fold back and tape theedges so they stand up and do not rollover.Find free educational materials (and much more) at BirdDay.orgHave you registered your IMBD event? It’s quick, easy, free, and one way we measure IMBD success. To register, go to birdday.org or send your event information to bday@birdday.org. Boulder, Colorado 80302 T: 866-334-3330 E: bday@birdday.org BirdDay.org

Bird MuralEducationlInteractive ActivityMaking a Mural Activity1. What is a mural? Begin by asking participants the following:What is a mural? After some discussionyou may want to show them some pictures (see examples of murals by IMBD artist Rafael Lopez inthis activity). Ask what murals they have seen and where? Build on their answers to talk about howmurals tell stories about things important to people. Draw from the examples the participants give youto talk about how murals they have seen depict issues and subjects of importance or interest in thecommunity. You could also use the murals by Rafael Lopez to talk about what the murals depict.2. Discussing their mural.3.4.5.6.Next you could read the book The School Mural by Sarah Vasquez that talksabout a group of kids making a mural. Or, you can take the discussion right into talking about birdsin the community by reading a book from the suggested book list with this activity. Follow the book,with a discussion about birds they see at home, school, and around the community To get the discussion flowing, share out loud examples of the personal connections in the book that made you thinkabout birds in your community. For example, if you saw a picture of birds that are blue in the bookyou might mention bluebirds you have seen in the community, or if the book talks about migration youmight mention that you’ve hung up your hummingbird feeders and are looking forward to the hummingbirds returning this spring.Create a chart. Create a chart like the sample in this activity and record the answers from the discussion. Ask your participants what birds they see and where they live? What do they need to live? Howdo we help birds? Record their answers in the chart. Depending on the age group, ask how birds areimportant to people and to them? Record their answers.Explaining the mural activity. Explain that they will make a mural telling a story about birds in theircommunity. The next step is to work together to choose the story they will depict in the mural usingthe chart as a reference for ideas. Ideas include drawing a diversity of species, showing the placesthey live, showing what’s being done for birds, the role birds play in the community, or a mixture ofsome of these ideas.Draft individual pictures. Based on what the group decides is their story, give each student drawingpaper and colored pencils. Ask each student to think about what aspect of the story they would liketo draw and make a drawing of their idea. You can model this by making a draft to show them beforethey start their own.Sharing Drafts. Bring the group back together. Ask the participants to show and tell about their drawings and have them lay them on the floor next to each other or post on the wall. Stand back with thestudents when all the drawings are out and look at what they have. Do some of the drawings depictsimilar ideas? Group those together. Ask students that have made similar drawings to work cooperatively to make one drawing of their idea or choose one of the drawings already made. For example, ifthree kids drew American robins ask them to work together to make a new drawing or choose from onethey’ve already made.EFTA Conserving Birds by Connecting PeopleFind free educational materials (and much more) at BirdDay.orgGet Involved! Discover easy, fun ways to learn and connect with others while spreading bird conservation awareness—join the EFTA Flock at BirdDay.orgEnvironment for the Americas 2129 13th Street, Suite I Boulder, Colorado 80302 T: 866-334-3330 E: bday@birdday.org BirdDay.org

Bird MuralEducationlInteractive ActivityMaking a Mural Activity7. Creating a draft mural. Next have students layout their drawings in the prepared draft mural area thatyou made. Have them work cooperatively to lay out their drawings, gently guiding the participants to berespectful and thoughtful of each others ideas.8. Consider the results.When drawings are laid out ask participants to step back and consider the layout.What do you they like? What would they change? Does the mural tell the story they want to tell Makeany changes that the group agrees to. Now ask them to consider the background of the mural. Will itbe one color? Will it be part of a larger scene the group chooses?9. Sketch out the draft.If your participants are young, consider sketching out the mural yourself. If theyare older and you have time, let the participants sketch out their drawing.10. Get out the paints--have fun!See tips for painting with this activity.Older students (4th grade and up): Consider using a grid method to transfer their draft on the mural(see sample mural grid). Make a grid that can be put over your draft mural. The grid can be madeon tracing paper, or you can use string (tape it down so it doesn’t move), or make chalk lines. Usingthe same number of blocks as your draft, draw blocks on your mural medium. Assign painters to eachblock; the grid will help the painters figure out how much of each drawing on the draft goes into thecorresponding block on the final mural. Might be wise to write names with stickies on each block sopainters don’t get mixed up. For more information, visit http://murals.com/scaling.html.10. Ask students to go back to their chart and their mural story idea to write a short text to describe theirmural. Type this up and post it with the mural. Show off the mural whenever and wherever you can!Make it a Festival Activity1. Hang up a large double layered paper OR print the black & white mural available for free download atwww.birdday.org. If you choose blank paper make it large but manageable for hanging and moving.The benefits of providing a black & white outline for visitors to fill-in are that it may be easier for folksto color in an outline rather than create their own drawing especially in an atmosphere where a lot oftime is not spent at any one activity. People also understand what you are asking if they have something to follow.2. On a nearby stand post the directions.Sample Directions: Help us create a mural to celebrate birdstoday! Choose a paint brush and 1 color of paint at a time. Choose a small part of the mural to paint.Rinse your brush after each color. Leave your brush in the water can when you are done. THANK YOU!3. Set out paint, brushes, and coffee cans with water. Let the painters paint!4. Short on volunteers? Consider letting this exhibit be self-paced and ask a volunteer to check on it every30 minutes or as needed to put out fresh water and check paint levels.Activity in ActionSend your pictures and comments on this activity to bday@birdday.org.EFTA Conserving Birds by Connecting PeopleFind free educational materials (and much more) at BirdDay.orgGet Involved! Discover easy, fun ways to learn and connect with others while spreading bird conservation awareness—join the EFTA Flock at BirdDay.orgEnvironment for the Americas 2129 13th Street, Suite I Boulder, Colorado 80302 T: 866-334-3330 E: bday@birdday.org BirdDay.org

Bird MuralEducationlInteractive ActivitySample Mural GridMaking a GridMake a simple or complex grid over your mural depending on the level of your participants.EFTA Conserving Birds by Connecting PeopleFind free educational materials (and much more) at BirdDay.orgGet Involved! Discover easy, fun ways to learn and connect with others while spreading bird conservation awareness—join the EFTA Flock at BirdDay.orgEnvironment for the Americas 2129 13th Street, Suite I Boulder, Colorado 80302 T: 866-334-3330 E: bday@birdday.org BirdDay.org

Bird MuralEducationlInteractive ActivityMural Examples by Rafael LopezUse these mural examples for your conversation with your group about muralsor find your own. You can also use the IMBD mural above in the grid example.Mural by Rafael LopezMural by Rafael LopezEFTA Conserving Birds by Connecting PeopleFind free educational materials (and much more) at BirdDay.orgGet Involved! Discover easy, fun ways to learn and connect with others while spreading bird conservation awareness—join the EFTA Flock at BirdDay.orgEnvironment for the Americas 2129 13th Street, Suite I Boulder, Colorado 80302 T: 866-334-3330 E: bday@birdday.org BirdDay.org