LOOK AFTER WILDLIFE AND THE NATURAL WORLD.
Resources
Plastic drinks bottles or yoghurt pots or milk cartons (make sure they're clean), wire or string, bird seed, scissors.
Instructions
Have children cut a hole in the side of a drinks bottle, yoghurt pot or milk carton. It should be large enough to allow a free flow of seeds, but in such a way that it won’t all fall out on the ground in the wind, and won’t get wet if it rains. Ensure children are careful using scissors.
Have children make a few small holes in the bottom of their feeder to allow any rainwater to drain away.
Fill the containers with bird seed.
Hang them with wire or strong string from a tree or line.
Ensure children restock the seed regularly. Let the children know that to keep birds happy and full, they need to remember to keep their feeders full of food. The birds will come to rely on them and will go hungry if the children forget.
Teacher Notes
Please note, this activity is not suitable for children with nut allergies.
It might be helpful to prepare a sample bird feeder in advance to show the children how to assemble it.
If their feeders start to wear out or the food in it goes mouldy, they can recycle it and make another one. Let them know that, by recycling, they’re helping the environment too.
For a quicker activity, try threading Cheerios (or similar) onto pipe cleaners, as described here.
