Eagle Games for Kids

Fancy Footwork

• Two of the biggest eagles -- the Philippine eagle and the harpy eagle of South America, which can weigh nearly 20 pounds -- use their powerful talons to catch and carry prey as big as a monkey.

  Test your child's talon strength by surrounding a bucket or basket with items of many sizes, shapes and weights. Have your child lie on his back near the bucket and pick up whatever items he can using only his toes. Sea eagles -- like the American bald eagle -- pluck their dinner straight from the water. Adapt this game for a wading or swimming pool by sinking and floating items of various sizes.

I Spy

• With two focus areas, eagles have great eyesight at night. Binocular vision lets them see ahead, like humans do, and they also can see out the sides of their eyes or slightly behind, known as monocular vision. Together they these types of vision help an eagle see up to a mile away.

  Play an I Spy game with your child by putting out objects at various distances. Determine how far your child can see and what the smallest detail is that he can make out from that distance. Leave the objects where they are and repeat the game in the dark. Discuss how eagles see five colors (compared to three for humans), which allows them to detect camouflaged prey.

Spread Your Wings

• Give your child a feel for an eagle's wing span by tying or taping several plastic grocery bags along the length of the cardboard tube from a gift wrap roll. Repeat for a second "wing." Create a simple but narrow obstacle course of stacked, empty boxes and invite your child to spread his wings and try to get through the course without knocking down any boxes or breaking his wings.

  Draw the bald eagle's eight-foot wing span on the sidewalk in chalk and let your child try it on for size. Take a photograph so he can see himself. Give your child a length of rope long enough to represent the wing span and encourage him to see how an eagle would fit in the back seat of a car, in the bathtub or in bed.

Online Eagle puzzle

• Race the clock to reassemble "And the Frost Will Fly," a color photograph on the National Geographic website (see Resources). One click on the image turns it into a 50-piece jigsaw puzzle; you have the option to make it even more pieces for a greater challenge. Click and drag the pieces back into the frame to rebuild the picture. When you successfully fit two pieces, it makes a satisfying "snick" sound; this sound can be turned off.