Simple DIY Bird Feeder

DIY Bird Feeders is a simple and fun activity for kids and families to do together.

DIY Bird Feeders

This is such a fun little project and I've been looking forward to sharing it with you.

If you haven't noticed yet, we have a soft spot in our family for little friends, especially the feathered kind.

May came home from kindergarten with a whole page of color photos of birds that are native to Southern Utah and was asked to help with some kind of state-wide bird watch/counting. She's supposed to keep track of what we see and how many and report back in a few months. It's been such a fun assignment! We made these simple DIY bird feeders to encourage birdies to come our way. We hung them in a bush in the front yard and from the lilac tree in the backyard that way we can see them from the couch or while we are in the kitchen.

The kids loved that they could get messy and help make the bird feeders themselves and I love that the birds eat everything but the string. After a few days all that's left is a pretty string blowing in the breeze and then I know it's time to make another batch.

These are the perfect afternoon craft that encourages some hands on messiness and some quiet window watching afterwards. It sounds like a fine afternoon in my book. What do you say?

Here's what you need:

Bread
Cookie Cutter
Peanut Butter
Bird Seed
Yarn
Scissors
Something to poke a hole (toothpick, needle, screw driver...)
Butter knife

How to:

Use the cookie cutter to cut shapes out of your bread. I used some out-of-date hamburger buns (which are a bit thicker than most bread) and a heart shaped cookie cutter. Cut out as many pieces of bread as you would like feeders. Let the bread sit out over night so that it gets nice and stale and hard.
After the cut bread has had time to get very stale it's time for the fun part. Use something to poke a hole in the bread where you would like the string to go through. I stuck in a sewing needles and just wiggled it around to form a whole. Cut a piece of yarn about 18 inches long and stick it though the whole. Tie the two ends of the yard together and it will be what hangs your feeder from the branch.
Use the butter knife to spread the peanut butter all over the dried bread. Place some of the bird seed in a small shallow dish. Press the peanut butter coated bread into the bird seed so that the seed stick to the bird feeder. Hang your bird feeder in a bush or somewhere with lots of little branches so that the birds can get to it. It's a great idea to hang it where you can see it from inside the house too.
Enjoy watching your feathered friends have a snack!

We are still trying to train the birdies to eat right out of his hands... it's not working so well.

Are you a bird watcher? What are the neatest birds in your neck of the woods?

We are enjoying Black-throated Sparrows and Orange House Finches, and even though they haven't come to our yard we see amazing Bald Eagles on a regular basis. We would be super excited to see an Oriole, but we haven't spotted any yet!

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