Build a bird feeder, together with your children

This article is dedicated to creative activities that can be done with children. These activities will teach them about respect for nature, environmental protection and the importance of reusing materials… To start with, we teach you how you can build a small bird feeder.

Why build a bird feeder?

There are two main and important reasons why you should build a bird feeder: firstly, you are helping birds to survive the cold winter; secondly, you are teaching your children the importance of reusing and protecting animals in need.

Let’s see how to start building!

Teach your children about the environment

Building a bird feeder is a fun and educational activity: it will teach your kids how to reuse items around the house (thereby reducing household waste that would otherwise go to landfills).

In addition, you’ll raise awareness on issues such as environmental protection and respect for animals. Finally, the whole family will be able to enjoy bird-watching and learning how many types of birds live outside their home.

How to build a bird feeder

There are many models and types of bird feeders, each with different shapes and built with different types of materials.

This means that bird feeder-building is an activity that can be repeated over and over, without children finding it boring or repetitive.

In this article, we will provide you with some suggestions and inspiration to make your own homemade feeder. In addition, we will point out many sources of other models of feeders.

Ready? Let’s get started!

A feeder made with a cardboard toilet paper tube:

Materials needed:

1. The cardboard tube found in the middle of toilet paper rolls (remember, if you’re not using it to DIY, it should be recycled, as our hungry recycling bins teach us).
2. A little bit of peanut butter
3. A small bowl
4. A small plate
5. A knife or spatula (to spread the peanut butter)
6. Bird food

Procedure:

1. Put some peanut butter in the bowl.
2. Using a knife (or spatula), cover the outside part of the toiler paper tube roll with peanut butter. Make sure the peanut butter doesn’t end up on the insides of the tube and that there is only an even, thin layer of it (otherwise, it’s likely to drip off in the heat).
3. Place some birdseed on the plate.
4. Roll the peanut butter-covered cardboard tube over the seeds. These will stick to the peanut butter, completely covering the cardboard tube.

At this point, all you have to do is hang your homemade feeder.

You can stick it to a branch of a tree or run a string through it and hang it. The solutions are truly limitless, and only depend on your imagination!

More inspirations

If building a bird feeder has amused you and your children, you can always repeat the experiment. You can do this by changing the shape, components, and process for construction.

The ideas, online, are many. Here is a collection of them.

1. Bird feeder made with a slice of bread
2. A bird feeder in a teacup!
3. Bird feeder made with LEGO cubes

Teach children to love the environment

If you want more suggestions or if you are interested in other fun and environmental-friendly activities to do with children, we recommend another article dedicated to outdoor activities, and one dedicated to the benefits of children being in contact with nature.

Additionally, remember that there are many educational games, inspired by environmental themes, that can help you in your path to educate your children to respect nature and environmental values. Some games are focused on the importance of saving water, while others teach useful behaviors to reduce energy waste and recycling: you can find ideas and our fun games on Facebook and Instagram.

Happy DIY!