Puddle Wonderful Learning: Cher Ami- The Patriotic Pigeon

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Cher Ami- The Patriotic Pigeon

By Deborah Pace Rowley

I love activities that teach as well as entertain. The 4th of July is an ideal holiday to combine fun and learning. It is an important day for parents to teach our children about the freedoms we enjoy as Americans and the sacrifices that others have made to keep our country free.

This past school year when we were studying World War 1, I learned the story of Cher Ami- a messenger pigeon used in the Allied conflict in France. I loved this story and my students did too. I thought it would be fun to plan a 4th of July activity around this amazing bird.

First, Katie and I made pigeon cupcakes. I know the eagle gets all the attention this time of year but I wanted our pigeon to have her day in the sun as well. I modeled our pigeon after the Mo Willems pigeon in one of our favorite picture books, Dont' Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!

I simply made a white cupcake and tinted some frosting blue. I also tinted coconut blue for the little tuffs of feathers on top of our pigeon's head.

Then we used large marshmallows and chocolate chips for the eyes and the tip of a gummy worm for the beak.

Once we had our cupcakes prepared, I made this sign to tell guests about Cher Ami.

You can print out the sign here.

Then you could set it out next to the cupcakes with the rest of your Independence Day spread.

If you don't want to print out the sign, you could just print out the QR Code here. Then you could attach the QR Code to each cupcake with a red or blue ribbon.

Or if you would rather just tell Cher Ami's story while you eat the cupcakes, you can find the story here.

Whether or not you make our pigeon cupcakes, I hope you will share the story about this heroic bird and how she saved 194 soldiers' lives this 4th of July.