It worked. When it came time to make the big decision, I felt clear-minded. The stress and chaos seemed more manageable. The solution was actually really obvious.
When the children have a larger number of toys there seems to be a distraction element, and when children are distracted they do not learn or play well.
Another version of this kind of distraction display is where the bird creates the impression of a mouse or some other small animals that's running along the ground.
Generating enough light could be prohibitively expensive, unless cheap, renewable energy is available, and this appears to be rather a future aspiration than a likelihood for the near future.