Autumn is drawing to a close and, to quote 'Game of Thrones': WINTER IS COMING. This is a difficult time for our garden birds as food becomes more scarce, so this week's try-at-home craft is a DIY birdfeeder. Hang it up outside and see the birds come flocking!
For this you will need:
- Bird seed (ideally a wild bird variety)
- 2 sachets of unflavoured gelatine
- Boiling water
- Large cookie cutters
- Drinking straws, cut into 5cm lengths
- Large bowl
- Spoon
- Baking sheet
- Baking parchment
- String or ribbon
- Dissolve the gelatine in boiling water (adult supervision will be required here!) and add 2 cups of bird seed.
- Stir for 2-3 minutes to allow the bird seed to soak up the gelatine mixture. Don't worry if all the gelatine isn't absorbed.
- Line your baking sheet with baking parchment.
- Place your cookie cutters on the lined baking sheet and carefully fill them with the seed mix. This is great for working on those fine motor skills! Over-fill them slightly, as you want the seeds to be nice and tight inside the cookie cutters.
- Cover the filled cookie cutters with another sheet of parchment paper and press the seeds down firmly.
- Gently push a straw segment into each shape to create a hole for the string you're going to be adding later.
- Allow the bird seed shapes to dry for 3-4 hours (turn them over halfway through the drying time).
- Gently push them out of the cookie cutters, then allow them to dry completely overnight.
- Remove the straw segments, add a loop of string or ribbon and hang your bird feeder outside.
- Watch the birds come to visit for a tasty, seedy treat!