Learners at five primary schools around Princess Vlei honed their artistic and observational skills at the Bird Workshops run by Alice Ashwell earlier this year.
The workshops were part of the Princess Vlei Forum's Flight of Dreams project run each year to inspire local youngsters about the wetland birds found at Princess Vlei
This year they were run at John Graham Primary, Levana Primary, Harmony Primary, Hyde Park Primary and Floreat Primary.
The workshops were facilitated by Environmental Education guru, Alice Ashwell. In a creative, interactive process, the children worked in groups researching information about the bird they'd chosen. To help them understand the birds better, Alice had different weights to show how much each bird weighs - from a pebble for a sun bird to a 5 ltr water container full of water for a pelican.
The children created beautiful posters, showing the birds in their habitat as well as their natural food sources.  These art works will be displayed in an exhibition later this year.

• This introduction was the first in a series of creative encounters to give our learners a good time, while instilling an understanding of and passion for local urban wildlife. The introductory program ran in the first half of 2017, and included the workshops, a simulation game, and planting a bird food garden at Princess Vlei. It was sponsored by the Table Mountain Fund. It will be followed by puppet making and a parade in the second half of the year.