Five Ways to Feed the Birds … or squirrels

Since I started my Pinterest addiction last fall, I have been “pin”spired by all the great ways to create DIY birdfeeders.  Here’s a collection of the ones we have tried this month:

Cheerios on Pipe Cleaners

Both kids really enjoyed making these.  The stringing the cheerios on the pipe cleaner was also GREAT fine-motor skill building.  Henry had fun making his into different shapes.  I think, by far, this one was the easiest and most enjoyed by the kids.  I’ve seen this project on a ton of blogs and pins, but I believe I first saw it from Here Come’s the Sun.

Milk Jug Birdfeeder

This is a variation of a birdfeeder that I found from Happy Go Lucky.  Not having a coffee can, I made one from a plastic milk carton.  I cut out half of each end and then had the kids decorate it.  Unfortunately I didn’t get any good shots of their artwork … Henry made some really cool Angry Birds … because, well, “The birds might like them, because they are birds … and they might be angry too!”

In hindsight, the plastic container really wasn’t a very durable option.  And our chubby squirrel friend was quite happy when the feeder fell to it’s demise … and he got lots of birdseed!

Popcorn & Wire

This idea came from “Living and Learning at Home” I cut a long piece of thin gauge wire and had the kids help me string pieces of popcorn on the wire.  It was more tricky than the cheerios on the pipe cleaner, because the popcorn sometimes broke.  We also found, that although it looks super cute, the birds weren’t interested in it … and the popcorn dissolved in the cold rain.  Maybe sticking closer to the great example would have been better, Living and Learning at Home’s version was much fuller and added berries too.

TP roll & PB

I have done a similar bird feeder LOTS of times with pinecones … but I wanted to give this a try when I saw this post from The Moffatt Girls.  It sure was A LOT easier to spread the peanut butter on the TP roll.  Honor really enjoyed rolling the tube in the birdseed and hanging it on a small tree!

2 Liter and Wooden Spoons

I ABSOLUTELY love the way this feeder looked when I saw it from Green Kid Crafts.  It was simple to create, but because I needed to use box cutters to cut the spots for the spoons there really wasn’t much for the kids to do.  And then there was the challenge of getting the bird seed INTO the bottle.  I tried using a funnel, but the seeds were too big to fit through it.  Maybe if I would have just used oiler seeds it would have been much easier.

What types of bird feeders have you made with your kids?  I’d love to hear about them.  OR, if you try any of these, let me know.  I love your comments!!!

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