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32 Homemade Bird Feeders To Make With Kids This Winter

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Making homemade bird feeders for your backyard is a fun way for you and your kids to get to know which birds are native to your area, and a great way to help out your feathered friends when their food sources are scarce in winter-time.

Every winter, here in my daycare, we make homemade bird feeders to scatter among our trees and gardens. We like to keep things on the simple side here, so we always use common household materials to make our feeders.

You may also like 50+ Nature Crafts for Kids.

The hooligans always love the process, and they get so excited when they discover birds and squirrels nibbling away at the feeders they made with their very own hands.

32 Easy Homemade Bird Feeders

Here are 32 easy and beautiful bird feeder crafts to inspire you and your kids.  Some of these bird feeders are our own, and others, I’ve gathered from around the internet.

If you’re looking to make a bird feeder for your backyard, I hope you’ll find an idea or two that you like here!

32 Homemade Bird Feeders To Make For Your Backyard:

4 easy bird feeders for kids to make

Pine cone bird feeders are so easy to make. Bonus: collecting the pinecones is an activity in itself! – Red Ted Art

Look no further than your pantry cupboard to make this edible cone bird feeder. – Dereila Nature Inn

Bread bird feeders are great for using up stale end of a loaf or crusts that no-one eats. – CBC Parents

I love the natural look of these hanging gourd feeders by Kitchen Counter Chronicles.

Paper Plate Bird Feeder happy hooligans

You can turn a paper plate into a bird feeder in a jiffy!  This one is great for fine motor skills, and doesn’t require any special tools to make it!

homemade bird feeders made out of old dishes

Tea party for the birds!  This thrift shop cup and saucer feeder looks so whimsical on a stake in the garden. – Dear Lizzy

Second-hand bowls and vases work too!  A glass bird feeder would look beautiful sparkling in the sun. – Day 2 Day Super Mom

Angle it just right, and you can hang this teacup bird feeder from a branch in your yard. – Budget Savvy Diva

3 homemade birdfeeders for toddlers to make

Use mesh produce bags to make simple suet feeders for your neighbourhood birds. – David Suzuki

Our Cheerio bird feeders are so easy to make and help little ones develop their fine-motor skills too. – Happy Hooligans

Bagel bird feeders are simple enough for even the youngest tots to make. – Mama Papa Bubba

bird feeders made from lego - tin can- orange cups - fruit

Lego-maniacs and bird-lovers unite! Check out this amazing Lego feeder over at Fun Crafts Kids.

When we make fresh-squeezed juice, we use our leftovers to make orange cup bird feeders to stake in the garden.

With a little paint and ribbon, you can transform your recyclables into a colourful set of tin-can bird feeders. – Plum Adorable (website no longer available)

A  fruit and grain bird feeder is a great way to use up fruit that’s past its prime.  The birds devoured this one quickly! – CBC Parents

These fruit and cheerio bird feeders are a great way to use up stale cereal and fruit that’s past its best. Making these feeders helps little ones strengthen their fine-motor skills and they can practice counting and patterning as well.

cardboard birdfeeder square

For this cardboard bird feeder, you need look no further than your recycle bin. Grab a cardboard box and some paint and this simple colourful feeder with your kids today.

32 beautiful bird feeder crafts

These easy rainbow ice bird feeders are stunning!   Check out all the colours that Twig and Toadstool made!

Use up the last of your pantry scraps to make a gorgeous ice wreath bird feeder. – Hands On: As We Grow

The hooligans loved threading these simple cheerio and blueberry feeders!

3 bird feeders to make with recycled materials

Put your recyclables to good use!  This juice carton “owl” bird feeder is too darn cute! – Red Ted Art

This simple plastic jug bird feeder kept our birds and squirrels happy all through the winter last year.

Make this adorable upcycled bird feeder with a couple of containers and some fabric scraps. – Embracing Life’s Journey (website no longer available)

kid made bird feeders

Here’s another super way to use up your orange rinds! Hang citrus bird feeders around the yard. – Mama Papa Bubba

These little paint tin feeders look so pretty and inviting hanging all together. – Mom Endeavours

Feed a whole flock of birds with this twig and toilet roll bird feeder. It’s like a birdy buffet! – Summer Project Ideas

3 fun ways to make bird feeders

For the well-travelled bird:  these road map bird houses are more for decorative purposes, but they’re so cute, I couldn’t resist sharing. – Crafts by Amanda

We used snow as a base for our corn kernel and chestnut feeder.  The blue jays and squirrels LOVED it!

Here’s another simple cardboard roll bird feeder.  I love the splash of colour that the ribbon lends to the project. – Momtastic

water bottle bird feeder - wreath bird feeder - cookie cutter bird feeder

“Messy Fingers Science” says it took less than two minutes for the cardinals to find her spoons and soda bottle bird feeder!

Cookie cutters!!  What a fun way for the family to make a bunch of shaped bird feeders for the yard. – Juggling with Kids

I’m in love with this bundt pan bird seed wreath by Infarrantly Creative.  The rustic bow is rustic and classy at the same time.

3 cool homemade bird feeders - Happy Hooligans

Make a bird or butterfly feeder out of a glass jar.  These would look lovely suspended at different heights around the garden or patio. – Melissa Camera Wilkins

Here’s a simple way to turn an inexpensive grapevine ornament into a bird feeder. Judging by the photos, this suet recipe is a big hit with woodpeckers and other small birds. – The Garden Roof Coop

And last but definitely not least:  Get a close-up view of your neighbourhood birds with a simple and inexpensive suction cup bird feeder!

Happy building and happy birding!

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Comments

  1. Angela Wood

    Hi, I think you should remove the “stale bread bird feeder” as birds must never, ever be given bread to eat. They eat it, they feel full, they get no goodness or energy from the bread, they die. 🙁

    Bread – any kind – is a big no no for all birds.

    Reply

  2. Amy

    I was going to do the bird feeder with the cookie cutters how long before hand can I mix the ingredients together before they seat up

    Reply

    • happyhooligans

      I’m not sure, Amy, but if you click on the link you’re referring to, you’ll be taken to that blog post, Amy, and from there, you could ask that blogger. I haven’t made the cookie cutter ones myself, although they look awesome!

      Reply

  3. Ashley

    These all look fantastic. My grandparents and parents used to be bird watchers, and passed it along to me. I think I will be making the painted can feeders with my two small children soon! It’s too cold to play outside right now, and I can hang these from the trees and the kids and I can watch the birds eat from the living room windows:) Thanks for all of the great ideas!

    Reply

    • happyhooligans

      Aw, lovely idea, Ashley! My Nan was an avid bird watcher, and my parents are too, so it runs in the genes here as well. 🙂

      Reply

  7. Lesley Atkinson

    Our local lake has swansand the information blurb about them states that their main diet consists of bread, along with vegetation etc from the lake. So I am sure that other birds will welcome bread as part of their balanced diet.

    Reply

  8. Sandra

    We have Hovis seedy bread here in England,that is wholemeal with seven or more seeds added to the dough. Not only is it yummy the birds love it too.

    Reply

  9. Margaret H. Devine

    I have thought about doing several of the bird feeders using peanut buter but it disappears too fast at my house for any bird to get any.

    Reply

  10. gwen

    A really good one you don’t show is an old nylon panty hose filled with sunflower chips or other small seeds. each leg of the hose will make 3 feeders, the small birds take the deed right through the hose

    Reply

    • Ejt

      I was ready to try this one as it sounded good for drainage to avoid moldy seed but then it struck me that the birds might also be getting nylon caught in their beaks.

      Reply

  11. Linda

    I am passsing these on to the activities person at my Mom’s nursing home. Many are simple and can be done by those even with arthritic hands.

    Reply

    • happyhooligans

      Linda, I LOVE it when people pass these on to nursing homes, or when I hear from someone saying they do my crafts with their elderly friends and patients. That just warms my heart so much because my Nana was one of the most important people in my life, and I adored the people who crafted with her in the nursing home in her final years. Bless you. Thanks for making my day. xx

      Reply

  12. rebecca

    I never knew that birdwatching with my curious children would be so much fun. Now my grandchildren enjoy the birds too!

    Reply

    • Hol

      Hi happyhooligans, please take notice of Debbie’s point as its not appropriate to recommend the net bags as bird feeders. “Use mesh produce bags to make simple suet feeders for your neighbourhood birds. – David Suzuki”

      Reply

  14. Sue

    Please never use ordinary peanut butter, the salt content is too high for birds. There is a salt free peanut butter for birds called Flutter Butter.

    Reply

  15. Virginia

    Love these feeders… must try a few.

    However, why in the world would you call your daycare kids Hooligans?

    hooliganism − unruly, destructive, aggressive and bullying behaviour.

    Reply

    • happyhooligans

      So funny you should ask that question, Virginia. You might enjoy this post that I wrote, regarding the name of my blog, not long after I started blogging. The outpouring of support that I received in favour of my blog’s name was incredible, and even still, years later, I receive comments (online and in person) almost daily saying what a fun name it is. Here’s the post I wrote way back when… Enjoy. 🙂 https://happyhooligans.ca/should-i-change-our-name/

      Reply

  16. Jessy Shaw

    My son absolutely loves birds so I have been looking for decorative bird feeders for sale that would fit with our backyard decor. He also loves Legos so I know that he would love to build his own for the birds! I will have to keep an eye out for some of the materials to build these. Thank you for sharing them and giving me some awesome ideas!
    http://www.sagars1stopshop.com/dept-130115

    Reply

  18. Jim Birdman

    My daughter and I look through this list and she is now BEGGING me to do most of them. Very neat ideas and thank you for the list. Looks like my weekends in spring are now spoken for!

    Reply

  19. Helen

    Love all of these ideas and certainly name “Hooligans”! My mom (now passed) called us this with a huge smile and a plate of cookies–so much love. The bread & seed is a great idea, you are correct in links you posted. Thanks for
    your blog doing a great job for all of us “hooligans”!

    Reply

  20. John

    You’re absolutely right. And birdhouses shouldn’t have perches, as only predators use them to get the chicks. The more open and accessible, the more at risk the babies are.

    Reply

  21. Richard Eldredge

    Try feeding your robins, bluebirds, Brown Thrashers and pretty much all other bird feeder birds, this recipe….. in a mixer – 4 cups cracked sunflower seed, 4 cups yellow corn meal, 1/2 of a 40 oz peanut butter jar or 20 oz. (heated in the microwave makes it easy to pour), heat vegetable shortening and pour in enough to make either one big ball or about 12 baseball size balls to feed bluebirds as well as almost all other birds. Even a couple of robins eat multiple times a day. Because of the peanut butter and vegetable shortening, the ball is somewhat waterproof and lasts about a week. No waste! You might start out by crumbling a little bit and leave the ball. Once they get used to it, they gobble it up. I feed the ball year round. American robins, Bluebirds, catbirds, thrashers, Eastern Towhee’s, yellow-bellied sapsucker, mocking birds, rose-breasted grossbeaks, cardinals, blue jays, titmice, chickadees, downy woodpeckers, red-bellied woodpeckers, mourning doves are just some of the many different birds that eat the bird ball on a regular basis.

    Reply

  24. Shelly

    Thanks for all the great ideas! Maybe you should remove the last one though, as I have heard from friends that work with birds that there are major issues with birds dying from striking windows – and I’ve seen quite a few birds crash into them. Having a bird feeder right on the window might unfortunately cause some injuries.

    Reply

  34. Abadis Parsian

    Thanks for all the great ideas! Maybe you should remove the last one though, as I have heard from friends that work with birds that there are major issues with birds dying from striking windows – and I’ve seen quite a few birds crash into them. Having a bird feeder right on the window might unfortunately cause some injuries.

    Reply

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