We are lucky enough to have a small garden where animals come to visit! So far we have had squirrels, cats, budgerigars, and a lot of other small birds. My kids love staring at the window, waiting to spy birds or squirrels.
So when the weather got colder, we decided to make these bird feeders to help the little birds find seeds.
Here are 3 easy diy bird feeders from recycled materials to make with your kids. These crafts are a great way to help birds cope with the coldest days of the year.
1 | DIY Bird feeders from milk cartons or juice cartons
For this first bird feeder, we used a coconut milk carton that we painted.
You will need:
- An empty milk or juice carton
- A glue Gun
- A paint spray
- A box cutter or a knife
- A garden wire
- Bird seeds
Instructions to make a DIY bird feeder from milk cartons
Step 1: Cleaning the milk carton
Before starting to make the bird feeder itself, you will need to clean the milk carton and make sure it is completely dry. This will help minimize mold, mildew and other unhealthy conditions.
Step 2: Painting the milk carton
For the paint, you won’t be able to use acrylic paint or kids paint as it will fade if it rains. Instead use a spray that can resist to cold and rain.
Protect the area before spraying the paint over and leave the milk carton to dry.
Step 3: Making windows in the milk carton
With the box cutter, make two windows on two sides of the carton.
The sizes of your windows depend on the type of birds you usually see around. If you want to avoid big birds coming and stealing the seeds away from hummingbirds, go for a smaller hole.
Step 4: Decorating your bird feeder
This step is usually the kids favorite. Pick up some sticks from your garden or a park/forest nearby, and help the kids stick them on the milk carton to decorate and customize the bird feeder.
We started by fixing two sticks perpendicularly to our milk carton and just under the windows, for the birds to reach out the windows easily.
Then we added small sticks on the top of the milk carton and longer ones on each face.
Finally we used a sellotape to decorate the little windows we made on Step 3.
Step 5: Filling the bird feeder with bird seeds
For this step, you can take off the lid of the milk carton and add the bird seeds from their, or use the windows.
Step 6: Fixing your bird feeders
To fix the bird feeder to a tree, make a hole on the top of the milk carton with the box cutter and use a garden wire to fix it to the tree.
That’s it!
By the way, if you start feeding the birds on winter, you will need to keep doing that for the whole season as they will be relying on you. Check out these tips and tricks for winter birdfeeding.
2 | DIY Bird feeders from plastic bottles
This recycled bird feeder is a slight variation of the previous one, using plastic bottles and popsicle sticks.
You will need:
- An empty plastic bottle
- Two popsicle sticks
- A paint spray
- A box cutter or a knife
- A garden wire
- Bird seeds
Instructions to make a DIY bird feeder from plastic bottles
Step 1: Cleaning the plastic bottle
To minimize mold, mildew and other unhealthy conditions, you will need to clean your plastic bottle and make sure it is completely dry.
Step 2: Painting the plastic bottle
Use a spray paint that will resist to cold and rainy conditions.
Step 3: Making windows in the plastic bottle
Be sure to perform this step yourself, as it can be dangerous for kids to try and cut out windows out of the plastic bottle.
Watch out for cuts as the plastic might be sharp enough.
The side of the windows will depend on the type of birds you want to feed.
Step 4: Fixing the Popsicle sticks
In this step, you are going to be fixing the sticks for the birds to step on. You will want the sticks to be under the windows but not far away, so the birds can easily reach the seeds inside.
Start by making two holes facing each other on the bottle and insert your first stick through both holes.
Then add two other holes and insert your second stick, forming a 90 degrees angle with the first stick.
Step 5: Filling the bird feeder with bird seeds
For this step, you can take off the lid of the plastic bottle and add the bird seeds from their, or use the windows.
Step 6: Fixing your bird feeders
To fix the bird feeder to a tree, roll the garden wire on the top of your bottle just under the lid and then fix it to a tree.
3 | Toilet paper roll bird feeder
This is the easiest and quickest recycled bird feeder out of the three described on this tutorial.
However it won’t resist heavy rains.
You will need:
- Toilet paper roll
- Two popsicle sticks
- A knife
- An empty plate
- Peanut butter
- Bird seeds
Instructions to make a DIY bird feeder with a toilet paper roll
Step 1: Spreading peanut butter
Use a knife to spread peanut butter all over your clean toilet paper roll.
You do not need to use a lot of peanut butter
Step 2: Rolling your toilet paper roll in bird seeds
Spread the bird seeds on your empty plate and roll your toilet paper in it.
Step 3: Fixing the toilet paper roll on the tree
Once your toilet paper ready, find a stick on a tree and slide your toilet paper roll on it.
I hope you enjoyed these DIY bird feeders from recycled materials. Have you made some yourself? Did you spy any cute birds?
If you are interested by birds and are looking for some bird crafts to make with kids, check out these two articles:
- Toilet paper roll owls craft
- Feathered bird crafts
DIY Bird Feeders from recycled materials – Pin me for later