Homemade Bird Feeder
Let’s build a bird feeder!
Materials Needed:
Pine cone or toilet paper roll
Yarn or string
Peanut butter (or sunflower butter if child has allergies)
Bird seed or other types of seeds, oats, or grains
Instructions:
Step 1: Spread a generous amount of peanut butter or nut butter all over the pine cone or toilet paper roll.
Step 2: On a plate, have the bird seed ready to coat your toilet paper roll or pine cone.
Step 3: Lastly, tie yarn or string to the feeder and find the perfect place to hang outside your window or in a tree!
Step 4: Bring your feeder in at night so you don’t attract other wildlife, like hungry bears and raccoons looking for food in the snowy spring!
Don’t have birdseed lying around at home? Birds love to feast on many common pantry items like raisins, pumpkins, melon seeds, squash seeds, berries, or crushed-up eggshells. Eggshells are high in calcium and good for female birds this time of year before they start nesting!
Alternatively, you can use half an orange as a bird feeder. See the photos below:
Watching birds at the feeder is a great way to connect with nature either outdoors or even from inside your home on cold winter days. Check out this fantastic article from the National Audubon Society for tips on getting kids into birding.
Birding is something that happens quite a bit at Thorne Nature Preschool in Lafayette. If your child is interested in connecting with nature through birding, please reach out to us. We’re enrolling for the fall and future school years.
Thorne Nature Preschool is for children ages 3-6 located at our new Lafayette Nature Center. Half and full-day options available. Thorne is a Colorado Universal Preschool provider.