As Winter is drawing nearer, the leaves fall from the tree and the colder weather draws in, we turn some of our attention to the wildlife around us – in particularly our feather friends. Making bird feeders in Winter (or any time of year actually), is a fun and simple activity to do with Kids. Not only is it it great to help local wildlife (especially in urban environments like ours), observe our local wildlife as they come to feed, but it is also a great way to teach kids about being kind to animals and thoughtful about what the Winter brings and how to help others. Even if “others” are “just” our feather friends. SO.. off we go to day to make some super simple bird feeders out of Cheerios. Cheerio Bird Feeders have been a long standing “classic”, especially for younger children, who can practice their fine motor skills whilst making these bird feeders! They look cute and are a great snack for birds. My kids also love making Cheerio Bird Feeders, as I rarely buy Cheerios for them and this is an opportunity to snaffle some! 🙂
We also have a Juice Carton Owl Bird Feeder we made in the Summer, and some “traditional” bird cakes post.
Cheerios Bird Feeders – Materials
* Cheerios
* Floral Wire or Pipe cleaners (I prefer the former)
* Ribbon for hanging
Cheerios Bird Feeders – How To
1) As you can see from the materials, this really IS an easy craft. To be honest, you can just string your cheerios on a straight piece of pipe cleaner or wire to make your Cheerio Bird Feeders. However, we like to play a little with out wire. We had a go at shaping hards and making some “Christmas Tree” shapes.
2) I recommend shaping your wire FIRST. Once the Cheerios are on, it is harder to handle the wire and you are likely to break off the Cheerios! So shape them into your desired patterns. We made 3 different sized hearts and the aforementioned “tree”. (For the tree, I wrapped the wire around a thin glass and then reshaped it a little once off).
3) Get the kids to thread on the Cheerios. Two on the bird feeder, one in the mouth… ahem. Anyway, they enjoyed the “beading” and threading on all the Cheerios to make their on bird feeders!
4) Once full, I carefully twisted the wires together to “seal” the ends.
5) Add a ribbon for hanging and your Cheerios Bird Feeders are done. Don’t they look sweet?
Hang in a tree (ideally where it isn’t too wet!) and wait for the birds to come!
Here are some more great Bird Feeder Crafts:
Suzanne says
Love these.. Amongst all the buying and wrapping and consumerism surrounding Christmas this project is perfect. Thanks Maggi, we will be doing this with our son son this weekend !
Priya says
Very, very cute.. Love these!!
Marilyn L. Viera says
I like to receive your beautiful ideas to work whit my students
Debbie says
Great idea, I’m going to attempt it with my daughter’s preschool class for Valentines Day. It looks easy for me to prep the materials at home and then simple for kids to fill Cheerios in class. Thanks for the idea.
Chris Davis says
We did these for 2nd grade Valentine’s party. We used red pipe cleaners we got at the hobby shop. All the hearts were the same size and did not have to cut anything. Very easy to close the bottom. We also used curly ribbon which worked out great.
Red Ted Art says
lovely!