Easy homemade bird feeder recipe craft is fun kids activities in fall / nature craft for winter or fun nature crafts for preschoolers, or easy summer crafts for all ages. Learn how to make a DIY bird feeder as an easy preschool craft with several different recipes for birdseed ornaments. Make this a DIY organic nuts & seeds bird feeder craft throughout the year with peanut butter, as bird feeder without peanut butter / without nuts and with lard. These DIY bird feeder ideas make up one of the easiest kid friendly activities ever!
How To Make A Hanging Homemade Bird Feeder Recipe for Kids Activities (Simple Bird Feeders DIY Directions)
I love this recipe for homemade bird feeder craft because it’s a fun craft for fall, winter project for kids / fun family activity for cold winter days, and even works well for nature crafts for groups.
(Plus, we love watching backyard birds all year, which is an added bonus of this craft activity! The kitchen window is the perfect feeding spot for bird watching!)
It’s such an easy craft activity if you’re wondering how to make a bird feeder for school project, looking for a birds preschool craft, or bird seed crafts for different birds. If you’ve been looking for directions on how to make a simple bird feeder at home with kids, you’ll love this!
How To Make A Bird Feeder With Household Items
How do you make a simple bird feed?
You can make a homemade bird feeder recipe using:
- Black sunflower seeds
- Dried fruit
- Raisins
- Unsalted peanuts
- Nyjer seeds (Thistle Seeds)
- Millet
- Uncooked oats
- Fresh, unseasoned pumpkin seeds (fresh or dried by you with no oils or seasonings)
- Plain, air-popped popcorn (NOT seeds and not popcorn cooked in oil)
- Plain Cheerios (in small amounts, the sugar is not good for birds!)
- Lard
- Peanut butter
- Recycled Cardboard or toilet paper tube (yes! toilet paper bird feeders!)
- Yarn, pipe cleaners, string or twine
You can easily make these with craft materials you have at home (and can use all different kinds of bird seeds)! If you’re wondering how do you make a bird feeder easy for kids or how do you make a bird feeder for a toddler, add these to your bird feeders to make with children of all ages!
Once you decide if you’re going to use peanut butter or lard for the base you’ll need to add in the wild bird food (seeds, etc.). Remember, different types of food will attract different types of birds!
IMPORTANT: Use peanut butter without Xylitol!
Get the full directions on how to make homemade bird feeder recipe and bird feeder child craft below (easy way build a bird feeder!). You can make this as homemade bird feeder no peanut butter or with peanut butter. KEEP SCROLLING for the bird feeder craft DIY printable craft card!
*We stress that as bird seed crafts for preschoolers and a simple preschool craft or easy crafts for toddlers, but these are honestly great crafts for kids of all ages — even older kids and adults! And, because it doesn’t take a long time, making these DIY bird feeding station crafts hold everyone’s attention!
You can make this as a DIY bird feeder toilet paper roll craft or cut out your own cardboard different shapes (like we did!).
It’s a beautiful alternative to the homemade bird feeder milk jug craft, DIY window bird feeder, or other homemade bird feeder ideas.
You can even make these as homemade bird feeder ornaments or homemade bird feeder cakes to give out as Christmas gifts or party favors! (Using holiday shapes, they make such cute homemade birdseed ornaments for a winter nature bird feeder!)
There are important things you need to know if you’re wondering how do you make homemade wild bird food and how to make a bird feeder craft with kids.
Be sure to discuss these with your kids before learning how to make feeder for birds!
What things are harmful to birds?
What foods are bad for birds?
- Milk
- Salt / salty items
- Raw meat
- Baked goods (cookies, cake, cupcakes, pies, etc.)
- Bread
- Honey
- Xylitol
- Caffeine
- Apple seeds
- Fruit pits
- Dried coconut / desiccated coconut
- Polyunsaturated margarines
- Vegetable oils
- Avocado
- Split peas, beans, dried rice or lentils (only large birds can digest them dry)
- Junk food (cheese puffs, potato chips, pretzels, etc.)
- Popcorn kernels
While doing your bird feeder for craft, talk to your kids about how not all foods are good for birds. Just because foods are OK for humans doesn’t mean the food are good for birds.
ALSO TRY THIS FUN NATURE ACTIVITY FOR KIDS: How To Make Paint From Flowers
Can you make a homemade bird feeder with honey?
It is not recommended that you make your homemade feeder for birds with honey or use honey in bird food. Birds can have difficulty digesting honey. In addition, it can easily grow that is toxic to birds. Also, honey is sticky that it gets all over little birds and can harm feathers, flying, and movement.
Is corn syrup bad for birds?
Corn syrup is not a good option for birds because it has a very high sugar content, which is bad for birds. Also, the sticky texture of corn syrup can get on their feathers, which can be harmful (just like honey). It’s not recommended to use corn syrup, honey, or raw sugars. It’s probably best not to make bird feeders with corn syrup.
Easy Homemade Bird Feeder Recipe Ideas
How To Make Homemade Bird Feeders With Peanut Butter
To make our homemade bird feeder, we started with some cardboard we recycled from a box.
We cut our cardboard into heart shapes and made a heart shaped bird feeder craft.
Those are the shapes my daughter wanted to use because we made these as a Valentine’s Day heart bird seed feeder craft (for homemade winter bird feeders), but you can cut your birdfeeder into any shape you want!
You can even make them as homemade bird feeder wreath shapes if you’re giving them for holiday nature gifts.
CRAFT TIP: Use cookie cutters to make your shape! fun way for kids to practice tracing and fine motor skills, too!
There are so many ideas for bird feeders. This is just one way and it’s how we made an eco friendly bird feeder (aka: natural bird feeder)!
Then, we spread peanut butter on both sides of the cardboard and pressed it into bird seed. We strung the shape through twine and then hung our bird feeder on our tree!
We understand that some may not be able to use peanut butter on their feeders.
Don’t worry!
Here’s an alternative:
Homemade Bird Feeders Without Peanut Butter (How To Make Bird Feeders With Lard)
Clearly there are some people who can’t use peanut butter because of allergies and sensitivities.
No worries!
You can still make this DIY bird feeder with just using lard instead of peanut butter!
Lard is still safe for birds and is what basic suet is made of, so it’s OK to make bird feeder with it.
So, you can still make these homemade bird feeders without peanut butter!
(If you’re still looking for a homemade peanut butter bird feeder recipe, see the craft printable directions below!)
AFTER THE EASY BIRD FEEDERS CRAFT, CHECK OUT MORE NATURE CRAFT IDEAS FOR FUN KIDS ACTIVITIES:
Easy Pollinator Craft (this is fun to pair with the bird feeder craft preschool activities)
Easy DIY Nature Garland With Dried Fruit
How To Dry Apple Slices For Nature Crafts
How To Dry Oranges Slices For Nature Crafts
How To Make A Popcorn Garland With Cranberries (I like this as craft bird feeders, too!)
Autumn Sensory Activity for Preschool and Free Fall Printable
These are all a great way to add nature crafts and nature studies to your learning for all seasons to go along with your bird feed crafts!
Let’s get to how to make easy bird feeder at home with children (even as a bird feeder toddler craft or how to make bird ornaments for winter months). No matter if you’re looking for a bird feeder project for school or homeschool project, or an easy group activity with kids, this is a great craft because it’s simple to make and bonus? Watching wild birds is fun for the whole family!
DIY Homemade Bird Feeder Recipe Craft (Easy Bird Feeder Craft For Preschoolers and Up!)
Easy Craft Hanging Bird Feeder (DIY Peanut Butter Bird Feeder Or Lard Birdfeeder)
This is an easy bird feeder recipe for toddlers, bird feeder craft for preschool, or even bird lessons and kids activities for elementary and middle school. I love that it’s an easy group activity so it’s perfect for homeschool co-op, youth group activities, Girl Scout crafts / Boy Scout nature projects / bird feeder projects for cub scouts, or even just a fun after school project for kids.
CRAFT TIP: These make great gifts for friends for holidays! (Or, do a holiday craft night where kids make their own feeders with Christmas tree shapes! It’s so much fun and you have cute bird feeders for wildlife at the end of the party!)
Remember: You can make this a homemade bird feeder recipe without peanut butter! Make it a preschool bird feeder craft without peanut butter by using lard instead. If you use peanut butter, it must be without Xylitol, so check the ingredients.
You can make this as a bird feeder craft toilet paper roll feeder / paper towel rolls (bird feeder with toilet paper roll tip: use unpainted toilet paper rolls to keep them eco-friendly bird feeders!).
Instead of cutting out a shape (like we did), just use the bird food recipe and put it on a toilet roll instead. Then, just string the pipe cleaner or yarn or wrap twine through the tube hole or make small holes to hang it up.
This is also a fun alternative to those tired pine cone bird feeders or milk carton bird feeder crafts / juice carton feeders / plastic soda bottle feeders that everyone makes! (Don’t get me wrong, those pinecone bird feeder craft ideas are cute and great for mini bird feeder ideas and easy bird feeders preschool projects, but I like this one for something different and unique!)
This is a cheap bird feeder craft and you may be able to make it with things you already have in your house and any time of year is the perfect time to make these (birds always need food!).
Here’s how to make own bird feeder with kids and how do you make a bird feeder step by step…
Homemade Bird Feeder Recipe Craft
Equipment
- Paper plates
- Hole punch
- Scissors or craft knife
Ingredients
- Sturdy cardboard an old box or shoebox works great or toilet paper rolls if you're making it as a toilet paper bird feeder craft
- String twine, or yarn
- Peanut butter* or lard or both–this is what basic suet is made from
- Mixed bird seed
Instructions
- Draw the shape of your bird feeder onto the cardboard. (We decided to use hearts, which makes this an awesome Valentine’s Day craft, too!)
- Cut the shape out of the cardboard with scissors. (A craft knife works really well with the cardboard, but you’ll need to use it as instead of the kids.)
- Using the hole punch, punch a hole at the top of the shape. (You may need to use scissors or the craft knife if your cardboard is really thick.) Thread the ribbon or yarn through the hole and tie it to make a big loop.
- Pour the birdseed onto the paper plate.
- Liberally spread one side of the cardboard shape with the peanut butter or lard. Place the shape, lard/peanut butter side down, into the birdseed on the plate. Press firmly, but gently.
- While shape is still facing down, spread peanut butter or lard on the other side of the shape. Flip the shape over and press into this side into the birdseed. (Add more birdseed to the plate, if needed.)
- Lift shape and fill in any empty spots by pressing birdseed into it with your hands.
- Hang outside and enjoy watching all the feathered friends that come by to enjoy your yummy bird food craft!
Notes
CRAFT AND READ: Learn About Birds for Kids (Bird Lesson Plans and Bird Themes)
If you want to make a study unit to go with your simple DIY bird feeder craft for kids and enjoy wild bird sightings in your outdoor space, encourage a love of nature by try these teaching resources / learning resources and more bird activities. It’s a perfect way to pair with this birdseed feeder craft project!
Wooden Bird Feeder DIY Kits & Crafts With Birds
Want to keep going and learn more about birds and do more diy bird crafts?
Grab a DIY wooden bird feeder kit to make with your kids (and learn a whole new skill set!).
Color and make bird gliders
THIS IS A FUN CRAFT TO GO WITH THESE ARBOR DAY LESSONS FOR KIDS!
All About Birds: Birds for Preschoolers and Up!
Pair these preschool bird feeders ideas craft for kids with an awesome bird book and you can actually accomplish a lot of fun nature learning… starting with some easy bird feeder crafts!
Our favorite bird books include to go along with the bird feeder craft easy project:
Birds, Nests & Eggs (Take Along Guides)
Beginning Birdwatcher’s Book: With 48 Stickers
We’ve used both of these a great deal throughout the years (and for all seasons learning) in homeschooling. They go well with the easy craft to pair up with learning all about birds and why birds are important in our life.
Here are other children’s book picks for nature studies and learning all about birds…
Children’s Books About Birds
These kids books go well with the craft homemade bird feeder recipes / bird feeder and craft ideas.
Bird Books For Kids:
A Backyard Birding Adventure: What’s in Your Yard?
My Awesome Field Guide to North American Birds: Find and Identify Your Feathered Friends
Bird Watch Book for Kids: Introduction to Bird Watching
Big Book of Birds (The Big Book Series)
The Little Book of Backyard Bird Songs
Any of those are good with your bird feed DIY crafts!
Have fun learning how to make homemade bird food! Tag us in your fun bird feeder craft!
Do you have a homemade bird feeder recipe you use with your bird feeders for kids to make?
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