Activity #1: The wall is a good way to explore various birds...you can do it in the Merlin app as well, but having it on a map and with random access to any bird that seems intriguing makes it easier to just explore.
For Activity #2, I did some id'ing only in my front yard, found 4 birds from the Songbirds group, a flycatcher (Black Phoebe), two sparrows (California Towhee and Dark-eyed Junco) and a blackbird (Brown-headed Cowbird).