I think what I love most about the Tin Can Bird Feeder is that you’re essentially making something from nothing! It’s also such a fun way to teach kids how to reuse and recycle! We just made the bird feeder on a whimsy for our own backyard, but it would make a terrific gift too.
Materials needed:
- tin can and its lid
- pliers
- hot glue gun and glue
- sticks
- string
- a few small rocks
First, make sure your can has been thoroughly cleaned and remove the paper label.
Next, being careful not to cut yourself, fold the lid in half using your pliers. Our lid was one of the pull-top ones, which made it a little tricky, but we were still able to make it work!
Now, using the hot glue gun, put a little bit of glue around half of the rim of the can and set the lid inside. Try your best to hide the glue, so it’s not so visible from the outside.
While you’re folding and gluing the top, go ahead and send the little ones off to find sticks in the backyard.
Find one or two thicker, sturdier sticks and glue them to the bottom of the bird feeder…this is where the birds can perch while they snack.
Now, go around the can gluing sticks side-by-side until the entire can has been covered. We broke the sticks so they were all roughly the same length, but by no means perfect. If one stick is curved and leaves a substantial gap, go ahead and glue a small stick in to fill the hole.
On the bottom of the can, glue a few rocks in place…these probably won’t be seen, but will help balance out the bird feeder so it doesn’t tip too far forward.
Lastly, tie a string around the bird feeder and fill with bird seed. Hang it up where you and the kids can see it from a window…maybe on a nearby branch or off of your porch. Now, sit back and wait for the birds!
We decorated our bird feeder with sticks from the yard, but you can certainly get creative and mix things up a bit. Your kids can paint the tin can, wrap string around the can, or glue buttons on it…anything you all are inspired to do to make it unique!