Is your child a young ornithologist in the making? Find out with this fun project that combines a recycled craft with a bird watching activity! With just a few household materials, you and your child can bask in the wonder of your very own bird feeder -- can you guess what types of birds will like it best?
What You Need:
- 2 liter soda bottle
- Permanent marker
- Ruler
- Sharp knife
- Kitchen scissors
- Hole punch
- Thick string or twine
- 2 chopsticks
- Bird seed
What You Do:
- Help your child use a ruler and a permanent marker to make a rectangle halfway up the soda bottle. The dimensions of the rectangle do not need to be exact, but should be roughly four inches high and three inches across -- big enough for a bird to fit in!
- Have her draw a similarly sized rectangle on the opposite side of the bottle.
- This step is all you, adults. Carefully use a knife to poke a hole in both markered rectangles.
- Let your child use sharp scissors to cut out each rectangle.
- Help her use the hole punch to poke a hole an inch below each rectangle.
- Have her insert two chopsticks into the the holes.
- Let her tie a long piece of string around the cap of the bottle
- For the final (and most important step), have your child fill the bottle with bird seed.
- Help her find a spot outside to hang her wonderful new bird feeder!
The fun doesn’t stop here. Buy a simple bird guide of the common local birds. Encourage your child to start watching the birds that fly around her homemade feeder. Can she identify the name of each bird? She can even start a special bird watching notebook -- who knows? This could be the start of a lifelong hobby!
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