Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Recycled Bird Feeders

By no means is making this kind of bird feeder a new idea.  It's just one of those good old fashion crafts you can easily share with your kids.  At our house we keep the empty paper towel and toilet paper rolls for future use since their are so many creative uses for them.  My daughter is 3.5 and to date has not yet made a peanut butter bird feeder.  Initially, I was going to use a couple of pine cones from a tree we have in our backyard but then I remembered all the empty paper towel and toilet paper rolls we have and opted to use those....less sticky then those pine cones too!

Start with 2 paper plates one with the peanut butter and the other with the seed. Before beginning to cover your toilet paper roll with the peanut butter be sure to use a hole punch on each side of the roll so that you can hang it later.


My daughter was very focused on the spreading part.  Good for those fine motor skills too!


Voila!  Finished product.  I didn't get a picture of it but of course after spreading your peanut butter simply roll the toilet paper roll in the bird seed.  My daughter was very happy with her work.  Throughout the craft we talked about how we are helping to feed the birds and how happy they will be to find our bird feeders.


And here comes the real joy!  We hung the bird feeder where we could see it from our dining room window.  Within minutes of hanging our feeder this is what we had the joy of watching.  You can only imagine my 3.5 year old's excitement!  I reminded her that she did this, she helped the birds find food when it's hard for them to find it on their own.

This craft was not only fun but it also offered a special message.  The message that it's important to remember to help others including these lovely creatures.  

For those of you who may be in the dead of winter, like us, help your feathered friends by making one of these simple bird feeders with your kiddos.

BIRD FEEDER NUMBER 2:
We also made a second bird feeder this time using a paper towel roll.  I also added 2 craft sticks so that the birds could stand on something while they eat!


The process is the same for this feeder as it was for the first one.  The only difference is that I added the 2 craft sticks.  I used a razor to make a slit and slid the craft sticks through the paper towel roll.  My daughter was still in charge of the spreading and rolling!

And here is bird feeder number 2:







6 comments:

  1. How fun! We are totally making one of these this weekend! Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Great!!! Have fun making it the birds will thank you for it!

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  2. My children love watching the birds. Well have to make this to make it even more interesting for them.

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    1. It was great to watch the birds enjoying their food!! My daughter felt so proud!

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  3. So simple and fun, and I am sure the birds love them! Featured you this week on Mom's Library!

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