Little Man and I thought it would be neat to make some bird feeders to hang off our apartment balcony. We had a lot of fun making the feeders and the food has attracted two Cardinals to our balcony! The kids love sitting inside and watching the pretty birds eat. Even the baby gets excited because the red cardinal is so bright and fun to look at.
The feeders were super easy to make, so simple that Little Man got to be a part of the entire process. (he loved that!) First, we had to make a quick Target run to buy birdseed, we had all the other materials at the house.
We did two different types of feeders. A pinecone feeder and two made out of toast. To start, I let Little Man spread peanut butter all over the pine cone while I made toast and cut the toast into hearts using cookie cutters.
He loved spreading the peanut butter and getting messy!
While He was doing that I cut the toast into heart shapes using cookie cutters. When doing this be sure to poke a hole through the center of the bread BEFORE you cover it with peanut butter. That way you can run a string through the hole to hang the feeder up when you are done.
Our cute heart-shaped toast. Unfortunately the birds pecked it to pieces and the hearts are now unrecognizable. They were cute to start though weren’t they?! I had to put the peanut butter on the toast, because it was too fragile for Little Man to do himself.
Next we rolled the peanut-buttery pine cone and toasts in the bird seed! I poured a bunch of seed onto a paper plate for easy rolling and easy cleanup. It was nice to be able to just throw the sticky mess away when we were done. Little man LOVED this part. He still talks about how he got to roll pine cones in peanut butter.
The last step is to set them all out to dry for 24 hours. We set our plate in the microwave so it wouldn’t attract bugs.
After it was dry I ran a string through the hole and hung it on the balcony. It took the birds a few days to find ours, but they have been quite loyal since they day they discovered it! We see them out there multiple times every day. It is so much fun to watch and Little Man is enjoying learning about the birds.
Have you ever made a bird feeder? Do you plan to this year?
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Laura says
This is such a fun and simple craft project to do with little ones.
We’re going to have to try this one!
laura
susan says
Looks like a fun project. And one of my boys is nicknamed liitle man, too!
Faith @ Artistic31Mama says
I remember making these when I was little. I am going to pin this to remind myself to do this with my kids. :-) So fun!
Cranberry Morning says
Great idea! We made these with the kids for VBS one year. They loved it. I also found out that if the pinecone isn’t fully opened, you can set it in a 200 degree oven and it will open up, allowing you more room to stuff peanut butter between the …the…the what? petals? leaves? I don’t know – those little pineconey things. lol Cute photos. Looks like the little one is taking this very seriously. :-)
Diana Rambles says
Fun activity!
Carrie from Carrie This Home says
I’ve never made a bird feeder before but this looks like a fun activity! I think both my kids would have fun getting messy and making this. Great idea! I’m stopping by from Create It Thursday (#82 Bacon Grilled Chicken) Have a great week!
Michelle says
How sweet!! I gave away heart shaped bird seed hangers for my wedding, they weren’t cheap! This is a great idea and so simple! I have to make this with my daughter:)
Jann Olson says
I have used PB and bird seed to cover a pinecone for the birds. I use to be a cub scout leader and I would do this with them in the Fall. It was so fun to hang it in the tree and watch the birds chow down. Using toast cut into shapes is a fun idea! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
hugs,
Jann
April @ Angel's Homestead says
What a great idea to make with my grandkids! Thanks so much for sharing your craft idea at “The Saturday Spotlight party”!
Have a great weekend and hope to see you at this weeks party!
April