Heart Bird Feeder~ Easy DIY Bird Feeders for Kids to Make

With snow on the way here in the UK, it got us thinking about how the garden birds that are still braving the British climate would be struggling to source food. So with that in mind we decided to help them and make some more bird food.  As it’s also Valentine’s Day shortly we also decided to make the feeders heart shaped, to show the garden birds some love.

What you need

2 sachets of powdered gelatine

1 pint of water

1/14 pint of bird seed

Bowl

Spoon

Cookie Cutters- heart shaped or other

Tray lined with foil

Ribbon or twine for hanging the feeder

First up boil the kettle and measure out a pint of boiling water.  Carefully pour into a bowl.  Then very closely supervise your child pour  and stir the contents of the gelatine sachet into the hot water.  Stir the gelatine into the hot water until dissolved.  Then carefully together pour the birdseed into the bowl and stir it up a lot.

As the mixture cools slightly, your little one can begin to spoon the mixture a bit more independently into the cookie cutters which are placed on the foil lined baking tray.  Pat them down and make a hole for the ribbon.  We used a chopstick to make the shape of the hole.

With the leftover bird seed we lined a pie dish and Florence spooned the rest of the mixture into one big bird cake.  She loved this extended part of the activity.  We even sang “pat a cake” whilst she patted her bird cake.

Put the seed mixture into the refrigerator for a few hours to set and then remove from the fridge and poke the chopstick gently through the whole again to clear the gelatine.  Then place on baking paper to dry out before placing ribbon through the hole and hanging out on branches or places in the garden or parks for the birds.   Top tip to get them straight out on the tree or If your seed shapes aren’t drying out well, pop them into the freezer for an hour to firm.