If there is one thing I am loving these days, it is crafts that my kids can do together. This bird feeder craft was the perfect activity for my 12 year old to do with my 3 year old.
When you have a big age range in your home, it can be a bit tricky to do activities. Things are either too hard for the littlest ones, or too “baby-ish” for the older ones. But crafts seem to have a way of bringing us all together.
Before I tell you all about the birdfeeder, you’ll want to grab my freebie full of holiday construction paper crafts! They are wonderful for some crafty family time while tapping into that holiday excitement. Grab your copy right here:
My 12 year old was very much excited to do this craft with his little sister. He is very pumped to be nearing babysitting age (mostly for the money) and is therefore trying really hard to show how mature and responsible he would be babysitting. No complaints over here!
This bird feeder craft was the perfect one to bring these two together. It makes a great craft for siblings, or a lovely project for grownups to do with little ones. Mind you, this grown up really enjoyed the spectator role …
For this nature bird feeder, we started (well, I started by getting a cup of coffee and marveling at the fact that this craft was going to take place while I drank coffee …) by gathering up some straight sticks. Large branches were broken down and all the while hands were being strengthened.
Next, those sticks were brought inside to assemble into a bird feeder. This craft could really easily be done outside, and actually reminds me very much of our Bring the Hot Glue Gun Outside post I wrote last summer. Yep … very, very similar … hmmm …
Anyway, my little ones decided they wanted to do this craft inside, so some sticks were lined up on the table to form the base of the birdfeeder.
These sticks were secured with two additional sticks running the opposite way, as you would if you were building a log cabin.
Next, the sticks continued to be stacked log cabin style. Two parallel sticks on the top and bottom, and then two parallel sticks on the left and right, creating a box.
Lots and lots and lots of hot glue was used to secure everything together. My 12 year old did the hot gluing, and my 3 year old held the sticks in the middle to secure them down into the hot glue blobs while keeping her little fingers safe.
Once the box was created it was decided that there should be some flowers and decorations. And since this was indeed suppose to be a bird feeder craft, it was decided that leaves should be glued on the bottom of the bird feeder so, you know, it would actually hold bird feed.
Twine was wrapped around the sides which both held those sides together more securely AND allowed the bird feeder to hang in our tree. Finally, the birdseed was poured in and little ones eagerly stared at the new bird feeder awaiting our feathery friends (who have yet to arrive and it has been 2 weeks … but it will happen … I think …)
Of course, you could also make this bird feeder craft out of popsicle sticks if you don’t have sticks handy. And if that were the case, you could likely get by using white glue instead of hot glue as long as you gave it ample time to dry.
And there you have it. Our nature bird feeder craft, perfect for siblings to do together!
I hope you and yours love it every bit as much as my little ones did.
Thank you so much for reading,
xo
Sarah
P.S. Don’t forget to grab your construction paper holiday crafts freebie!
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