Popsicle Stick Bird House
Topics: Kindergarten, Science, Arts and Crafts
Kids are naturally curious. Make the most of your child's interest in nature by encouraging her observation of plants and animals around her! Help your nature enthusiast to connect to her fine feathered friends right in your neighborhood by constructing a bird habitat and feeding station she can watch throughout the summer and fall.
What You Need:
- 45 popsicle sticks or colored craft sticks
- Wax paper
- Glue
- 2.5 ft. long piece of string
- Pinecone
- Petroleum jelly
- Peanut butter
- Stale bread
- Sunflower seeds/birdseed
What You Do:
- Start by making five sets of popsicle stick "walls" that will be put together to make the bird house. Spread out wax paper on the area you will be using for gluing. Glue eight sticks together to form each wall. You may want to glue a stick perpendicular to the back of the other sticks for structural support. Once all five walls are created, set aside to dry.
- Now, glue the house together. Use one sheet for the base, three for the walls, and the one with two holes punched out for the roof. Set aside to dry. (If the walls don't connect well enough to glue together, feel free to apply clear packing tape to the inside of the walls to secure them together.) As you connect the walls and the roof of the house, secure the ends of your piece of string on either side of the roof. You will use this to attach it to a tree or outdoor space later.
- Next, coat the pinecone with peanut butter. Set aside on a piece of wax paper. Using a mixture of stale bread crumbs, birdseed, and sunflower seeds, roll the pinecone into the dry mix until it is covered.
- Take the house and pinecone outside and decide where you would like to set them up. If you can place the feeder and house near a window that you can watch from the indoors, even better!
- Now watch nature take its course. Have your child keep a notepad and pencil handy while she observes to see if the bird house has tenants and the feeder has visitors. Encourage your child to note descriptions of the birds or draw pictures of your new neighbors that come to visit. Researching these fine feathered friends on the Internet or through library books is a great way to find out what is native to your surroundings.
Alicia Danyali, BS Elementary Education, taught primary-level students for four years at the International School of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The last four years of her teaching career, she taught at the Washington International School in Washington, D.C. She recently completed writing a series of children's picture books and is the mother of one young son.
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