This DIY Bird Feeder is the perfect easy craft to do with your kids. Made with safe and easy to find ingredients, this homemade bird feeder is a project that I’ve loved to do with my kids since they were little and I know you will love to do with yours as well!
Happy Sunday, friends! This weekend was full of fun fall activities with the kiddos: soccer games, bike races, lunch with family, trick or treating! Life is so busy when your kids are this age. But, we are also wrapping up a couple activities and I know our weekends will be slower paced coming up. So I am already thinking of things we are going to be doing on days when it is just too cold to be outside (guys, that’s like every day below 40 for me . . . . and 40 is a stretch).
These DIY Bird Feeders are such a great project to do with the kids on cold winter days. They are great to hang up for the birds in the winter, and they are also super cute and make perfect holiday gifts for neighbors, teachers, and friends. We love doing these easy to make bird feeders with the kids! This is a slight adaptation to my Valentines Day Birdfeeders because we are using a star so it can be made for holidays year round and I also decided to double the gelatin and really loved how much sturdier it made them.
What are Bird Feeders Made of?
You only need a few simple things to make these homemade bird feeders. All of them (except maybe the birdseed) can be found at the grocery store and all of them are non-toxic, which makes this the perfect craft project to do with the kids. Additionally there is no peanut butter in these diy bird feeders, so they are a perfect classroom project.
DIY Bird Feeder Supplies
- 4 cups birdseed
- 3/4 cup flour
- 2 0.25 ounce packets of unflavored gelatin (or 5 teaspoons)
- 3 tablespoons corn syrup
- 1/2 cup water
- cooking spray
- parchment lined baking sheet
- skewer
- thick sided cookie cuter
How do you Make Bird Feeder with Gelatin?
The unflavored gelatin is what holds this whole thing together, so it’s pretty important. You can find it in the canning aisle of the grocery store in a little box that contains four of the packets you see pictured above. You mix it in with the other dry ingredients and in the end it holds together your bird feeder perfectly!
How to Make a Bird Feeder
- Mix together the dry ingredients (the birdseed, flour, and gelatin mix) in a bowl.
- Stir in the wet ingredients (the corn syrup and the water). You will probably need to use your hands to get it sufficiently mixed.
- Spray a cookie cutter (any shape as long as it has thick sides) with cooking spray.
- Press the bird feed mixture into the cookie cutters. Then use a skewer to make a hole.
- Gently remove the cookie cutter.
- Allow it to dry overnight.
- String a ribbon through it and give it away or hang it in your trees.
I love these because of how easy they are, and they also turn out perfect every time!
If you are looking for more winter crafts to do with your kids you could check out this post on 39 awesome winter activities for kids. These Gingerbread Man Christmas Ornaments are also a huge hit!
Watch me Make These Homemade Bird Feeders
Amber says
We made these about 1 month before Christmas for gifts one year and by the time we got to giving them as gifts we noticed mold growing on them. Anyway to prevent that?
Yeah, I would only make them about two weeks in advance and then store them in a cool dry place. Birds really prefer fresh seeds anyway, so the closer you can get to making them and giving them the better.
Maureen says
How long can these last if I want to get a jump start on Christmas presents and bag them? Thanks
I would only make them two weeks or so before giving them only because birds don’t love old seed.
Becky says
How long do they store
I was just thinking about this this morning. I think they are best put out sooner rather than later because birds don’t like old seed. So probably a month or two.
Renae Hendershot says
How many does this recipe make
It depends on how thick you make them and how big your cookie cutter is. Between 8 and 12.
Kimberly says
Shouldn’t the gelatin and water be enough to hold them together? The corn syrup might be what makes them mold.
You can try it that way, but I really don’t think that it will hold without the corn syrup.
Suz says
What about subbing with honey?
I haven’t tried that . . . I’d be a little worried about consistency, but it could possibly work. If you try it let me know how it goes!
H says
Please don’t use honey, it can mess with the local bee population.
Nira Wong says
I read that corn syrup is not good for the birds.
Den says
How do I wrap them
I don’t typically wrap these. But, I would suggest carefully – maybe a gift bag with a lot of tissue paper would work best!
Tanya says
How long does it take to set. I plan to do it as an activity for kids during our Christmas town tour.
I would plan on letting them set overnight.
Toni says
Mine crumbled so should water be heated to get gelatin to stick seeds together?
Hi Toni, I’m so sorry that these crumbled and didn’t work for you! I have made them so many times and haven’t had that problem. The two things that could happen that would make them crumble would be if you packed the flour in the measuring cup (too much flour) or if you used heaping scoops of birdseed which would lead to too much seed. I’ve never had to heat up the water.
Paige says
These crumbled for us. I don’t know what we did wrong. :-(
Any chance you overmeasured the flour? If it was packed at all, it would be too much and make them crumble.
Michele says
Could these be made a head of time then wrapped in freezer paper and placed in a freezer bags and then freeze? If so, how long do you think they would keep in the freezer?
Yes! I think that would work great. I would say 3 months in the freezer for best results.