Homemade Bird Feeders as a Craft for Kids

Pine Cone Bird Feeder

• If you have a pine tree near your home, check the ground around it for pine cones to use for a bird feeder. Pine cones are also available for purchase where craft items are sold. Tie a 12-inch loop of yarn around the pine cone so you can hang it in a tree when it is finished. Give your child a butter knife and let her spread peanut butter over the outside of the pine cone. Pour birdseed on a paper plate. Ask the child to roll the peanut butter coated pine cone in the birdseed. Hang the birds' treat on a sturdy tree branch.

Water Bottle Bird Feeder

• Use any size empty, dry water bottle and an unsharpened pencil to make a bird feeder craft with children. Before beginning the craft with a child, remove all labels from the bottle and use a sharp craft knife to poke two holes 3 inches from the bottom of the bottle, large enough to slide the pencil through. Have the child insert the pencil through the bottle; the ends of the pencil should stick out from the bottle to become perches for birds. Cut a 1/2-inch diameter circle above each perch. Wind a 12-inch length of yarn around the bottle neck, then tie it in a loop to hang the feeder. Outside, remove the bottle cap and fill the bottle with bird seed. Some of the seed will begin to spill out of the holes above the perches. Replace the lid and hang the feeder in a tree.

Breakfast Bird Feeder

• After breakfast, show your child how to make a bird feeder from foods that people eat to start their day. Let your child string circle-shaped cereal onto a 24-inch length of yarn. When he has strung 20 pieces of cereal, poke a hole in the center of a half slice of un-buttered toast, then string it onto the yarn. Continue with more cereal and toast until you are left with 3 inches of yarn at each end. Tie the yarn together, then hang the birds' treat in a tree.

Bread-Shaped Bird Feeder

• Use cookie cutters and a few slices of bread to make bread-shaped bird feeders. Using the cookie cutters, let your child cut two or three shapes from slices of bread. Poke a hole near the top of each bread shape, then loop a 6-inch length of yarn through the hole and tie it at the top. Allow the bread shapes to dry for a day or two. Let your child spread peanut butter on the bread shapes, then press birdseed into the peanut butter. Hang the feeders in a tree.