My toddler is in love with spring! And she loves to watch and see if any squirrels are coming out to play in the backyard. Lately we’ve been watching lot’s of new birds coming into our yard, and she gets so excited with each new one. I thought it would be fun to make a bird feeder!
It’s an easy preschool craft and it encourages more birds to fly by our windows! All you need is a pine cone, peanut butter, and bird seed!
~Making a Pine Cone Birdfeeder~
Step 1- Find a Pine Cone! If your yard is like ours – that wont be a problem! Be sure to tie a string around it for hanging before you cover it in seeds!
Step 2- Spread a mix of Peanut Butter & Butter on your pine cone getting it inside the crevices. *The mix keeps the peanut butter from sticking to the birds beak, and prevents choking. A preschooler can easily do this with a spoon with very little help.
Step 3- Dip your peanut butter covered pine cone into a tray of birdseed. Pres the seeds in. I put our birdfeeder in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to let it get a bit hard. That way when we went to hang it up it would be a little hardier.
Enjoy birds in your yard:)
P.S. If you have Disney Channel on demand there is currently an episode of “Special Agent Oso” that features making a pinecone bird feeder! It’s called Goldfeather/Ride. And my daughter LOVED watching it before we started our project. She was telling me what step 1, 2 and 3 were after watching it:)
*Thanks to the Pine Cone Lady for the butter tip!
About Shannon SchmidShannon traded in her sensible NYC TV producer shoes (they were best for taking the subway), for a pair of Texas Cowboy boots when she married her best friend! He's at fault for making this Yankee a Texan! Shannon writes about all things that make a house a home. Her chief blogging inspiration is being the proud & slightly neurotic mom of a preschool age daughter.
You can find Shannon on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and her new favorite place to hang out, Google+.
My daughter recently made one of these bird feeders at school. She had so much fun doing it and it was really easy.
@Jessica, oh yay! It would be a great school project, and a cheap one! Has she seen any birds come to her feeder yet? We have seen a couple…but more squirrels!
@MilkandCuddles, Unfortunately, we hung it up right before a big wind storm and it blew away so we didn’t get to enjoy any birds. We will have to make another one.
Love that idea Shan and the cutie pics of “The Pumpkin” making the bird feeder!! and its so easy! I hope the birds come!!!
@Nikki, They did…and squirrels! lol.
Oh, so fun! Your daughter is adorable. My little girl has those same pajamas.
I’ve never made one of these at home with the kids. I think we’ll go for it this year.
@Janae, Thanks Janae! We kinda think she’s cute too- but we’re biased:)
Def try to make one! They are so simple and kids really seem to enjoy them!
Squirrels got ours two seconds after hanging it. Lol.
@Angelia Sims Hardy, Ours were ravaged by adorable squirrels this morning:)
***FYI***
When making pinecone bird feeders, you MUST Mix peanut butter with regular butter!! {Lard or suet works as well.}
The regular butter keeps the peanut butter from sticking to the birds beak and mouth to Prevents Choking!
I have a Pinecone Bird recipe on PineConeLady.com. On a lighter Note… It always makes me smile when parents teach children about nature! ~ PineConeLady
@PineConeLady, I just added your tip, and a link to your site at the bottom of my post! Thanks so much!
Hello…came to check you out from your direct msg on Twitter…so glad I did :-). I am following you vis GFC now too :-). What a fun project…the kids love making these and I remember when they brought them home from school…wanting to know “where can we hang it?” Miss those days. Stop by http://www.fingerclicksaver.com when you can. Would love a return follow, if you care to.
@Susan, Yay! So glad you stopped by Susan! Just followed you back- thanks so much for following, I love when that happens:)
Lucky, lucky little birds!
Looks like fun for you guys and the wildlife too! Your little one is too cute!
Hi there! I love your bird feeder and your little girl is adorable! Thanks for stopping by to see me at Scene of the Grime – so glad you’re now a follower. I’m following you, too. You have a great blog here!
cute idea and not expensive.certainly the wild life is enjoying this.
Love this post! Your pictures are really great! I’m excited to do this project with my little one, hopefully tomorrow! Thanks for the great idea! Mama MOE
I always enjoyed making pinecone bird feeders – good to know about the butter tip! Love your photos! Visiting from Mom Loop 🙂
Good tip to put it in the refrigerator; I never thought of that before!
Visiting from the Mom Loop!
Your daughter is so cute!
This bought back a lot of childhood memories & inspired me to make one with my son. I never knew about the butter tip—thanks for sharing!
Great project. There are a lot of toddler friendly bird feeders that you can make. My girls and I have tested out a ton of them!
Happy birding!