FEED THE BIRDS

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Looking for an engaging way to teach your child the diet of birds? Maybe the difference between coniferous and deciduous trees? Or simply introduce them into the world of bird watching. This activity will teach your child all of the above in an engaging and enriching way. 

My boys, ages 6, 4, and 2 love each step of this activity and will request to make pinecone bird feeders frequently. Usually they come to me with the pinecones already found and ask for the rest of the supplies which I happily assemble for them.

Why make a pinecone bird feeder with your child?

Making a pinecone bird feeder will expand your child’s horizons in many ways. Most importantly, it will bring them back again and again, looking for the sighting of a bird eating from their homemade feeder.

Firstly, your child will hunt for pine cones -this step helps them identify differences between trees. Then, they will turn the pinecones into something that birds will find very tasty and learn about the diet of birds. After the pinecones are hung, your child will eagerly anticipate birds finding their pinecone bird feeder. Usually this takes a little time, teaching patience.

How to make a pinecone bird feeder.

Firstly, hunt for pinecones.

When going on a nature hike to find pinecones, begin by asking what type of tree pinecones grow on. Help your child identify coniferous and deciduous trees and then venture towards the pine trees. My oldest child, Marty loves helping his little 3 year old brother, Mick, find the pine trees. Marty helped him by pointing out a cluster of pine cone trees. Mo, who is two, tags along at his own pace on the path or asks to be carried. After they chose some nice pine cones, not mushy or rotting, we continued through our woods to another patch of pine trees I knew was there. 

But what if there isn’t a woods out back? When Marty first did this activity we did not have our own woods, we lived in the suburbs. I knew we would be doing this activity in a week or two, so I began keeping my eye out for pine trees everywhere! Luckily a neighbor, a block over from us, had a pine tree that was dropping pine cones and they did not mind us picking up several to take home on one of our daily walks. Additionally, we’ve collected them from a local park too.

Secondly, assemble materials to make a pinecone bird feeder.

Once we have enough pinecones for each child to do at least two we go back to the house. If the pinecone hunt is a big enough event for one day, such as driving to a local park or nature preserve, then plan to do the rest of the activity tomorrow. 

I recommend doing this part of the activity outside as well because it can get messy. I assemble all the materials, on a cookie sheet, to carry outside and place on our picnic table. They include: peanut butter, bird seed, spoons, and twine.

Next, create the pinecone bird feeders.

Now it’s time for the fun part. Firstly, the boys smear peanut butter all over the pinecones and then roll in seeds. The first time Mick did this he ate a lot of the peanut butter, with some seeds. At some point during this process the boys even created an assembly line. Marty smeared the peanut butter, Mick rolled the pinecones in the seeds, and Mo placed it on the cookie tray. I was very impressed that they did this entirely on their own. 

Next, I tie the top of the pinecones with twine and then the boys get to climb in our bushes and hang them for the birds. We take the extra seeds and then scatter them on the ground.

Then, observe the visitors to your bird feeders.

Now we simply wait for the birds to come. Sometimes they arrive the same day and other times it’s not until the next morning. If it’s the next morning I have to “shoo” the squirrels away because they’re little bandits of our pinecone bird feeders and will take the whole thing!

When the birds arrive, we usually see cardinals, blue jays, mourning doves, and little finches. The boys and I will point them out to each other. If I call the boys they come running and similarly if they call for me, Momma! There’s a cardinal! I indulge them as well to observe our visitors.

Additionally, if you’d like to take this an extra step, consider making homemade binoculars. Check out the post How to Make Binoculars for Birdwatching here.

Lastly, investigate & explore more about birds.

If we aren’t sure the identity of a bird we become investigators and work to identify our feathery friend. I use a North American Wildlife book and a field guide. You can look for something similar at your local library. 

Similarly, speak to a neighbor. Ours knows all the birds in this area, which I am not as familiar with. I didn’t grow up where we live now. She helped us identify a Brown Thrasher that usually keeps to heavily wooded areas and was difficult to spot. I would only see his long brown tail swooping branch to branch. One day, I was finally able to see him clearly by the boy’s bird feeders and describe him to her. You never know who might be able to help you identify birds. Now Marty will tell me when he glimpses the mysterious Brown Thrasher.

Once we know a species there’s always something new to be learned about them. For example, we can learn more about the different calls they make or the various color patterns each has. Especially male to female.

Create forever birdwatchers.

The play based learning style of this activity engages your child while they’re learning about different types of trees and their characteristics, the diet of birds, and bird species. But it doesn’t end when the pinecones are gone, this activity continues to give. As I’ve seen with my boys, they find enjoyment identifying a bird and sharing their discovery with the entire family long after the bird feeders have disappeared. I hope your family finds as much enjoyment out of this entire process and feeding the birds as we do. 

Would you do this activity any differently? Or have you completed it and have feedback? Please share in the comments below.

Also, if you would like to see how this fits into our busy week, check out this post where I share all about a week of birdwatching. If you wish to explore the entire Letter of the Week curriculum, complete with free printables, activity ideas, coloring pages, and book suggestions, click the button below.

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