With the snow falling outside, I was looking for something fun for the kids and I to do together. As we watched a huge flock of birds land on a tree in our backyard, my daughter got excited and ran to get her copy of Fancy Nancy: Explorer Extraordinaire!
So I gathered our materials together: a few of the pine cones we collected during one of our walks this past fall, peanut butter (I put a few spoonfuls in a bowl ahead of times so we wouldn’t contaminate the jar), some pipe cleaners, and, of course, some birdseed.
Then we got crafting, following the directions in that favored book. (We LOVE Fancy Nancy books
Each of them carefully spread a thin layer of peanut butter on their pine cone. (I had to show them what a thin layer versus a glob looked like.) I loved watching my daughter slide the table knife into each groove, making sure she really had it coated — great fine motor skills practice!)
Then they rolled the pine cones in the shallow bowl of birdseed, gently pressing down as they went.
Once the pine cone was covered in birdseed, we wrapped a pipe cleaner around one end and headed out to hang them on a few trees in the backyard.
Have you ever made pine cone bird feeders with the kids?
Stephanie Kay says
January 4, 2014 at 12:48 amFancy Nancy is also a favorite with my daughter. We’ve made a variety of birdfeeders through the years. They’re fun to make but for some reason the birds in our yard never cared for them. That hasn’t stopped us from trying! Thanks for sharing via Family Fun Friday.
OneMommy says
January 4, 2014 at 1:47 pmThis was our first try with bird feeders…. We’ll see if the birds eat it! 🙂
Carrie says
January 4, 2014 at 9:38 amWhat a great activity!! We love Fancy Nancy as well in my house. Thank you for sharing at Sharing Saturday!
Emma says
January 4, 2014 at 9:52 amYou’ve got some lucky birds in your neighborhood that will get to eat these yummy treats! (Or some lucky squirrels…lol!)
OneMommy says
January 4, 2014 at 1:45 pmWith the amount of squirrels, the birds better be fast here! 🙂 (The dog is loving the smell of peanut butter, too….every time she goes out she stands by the tree and just looks up.)
The Natural Homeschool says
January 4, 2014 at 5:59 pmThis looks like it was so much fun! 🙂 Thank you for linking up today!
Julie says
January 6, 2014 at 5:32 pmIt’s been so long since we’ve done this that I don’t think my seven year old remembers making them. It’s a great winter activity and I’m going to add it to my to do list.
OneMommy says
January 7, 2014 at 9:34 pmI love simple activities like this one — and I know the birds appreciated it!
Jolanthe says
January 9, 2014 at 8:33 pmWith as cold as it has been here, I think the kids would have fun indoors and the birds would enjoy their efforts! 🙂
Jill says
January 11, 2014 at 9:48 pmI make these with my kids a few times a year. They are fun for kids to make and I love how they want to watch for birds to see after the pine cones have been placed outside.
Thank you for stopping by the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop this week. We hope to see you drop by our neck of the woods next week!