Making simple cardstock bird feeders in preschool

Half art project, half nature project – these one-time use bird feeders are very simple and fun to make! We did this activity during our theme on love, friendship and kindness – so we thought about the birds in the wintertime and how we could help them. Looking at our snow-covered ground outside, it was easy for the children to see that the birds would have trouble finding worms or seeds on the ground to eat. So they were happy to have the opportunity to make something that would help them!

To prepare – first we took thin cardstock pieces and can cut them into shapes (we made circle shapes). Then we punched a hole on one side of the shape and tied a piece of string into a loop for hanging.

Then we had the children decorate one side of their bird feeder with markers and embellished with stickers. In our class, we also made sure each child had their name written on it as well – so we would know whose project was whose. This led to one child asking “If we put our names on it, what if the birds think it’s for someone else and then fly away?”. I thought that was a GREAT question – and we talked a little about that, and we decided the birds most likely couldn’t read and would be just very happy to find the seeds!

Once one side was decorated, we had the children “paint” on the blank side with corn syrup (which is nice and sticky). The corn syrup is thick, and the children had to work a little harder to spread it than they would if they were painting with paint. It’s was a good fine-motor muscle workout!

Lastly, the children sprinkled birdseed on top of the corn syrup. Then we shook off the excess and put them aside to harden. We asked each child to take home their feeder to hang outside for the birds – can’t wait to hear if their feeders had any visitors over the weekend!