Easy Bird Feeders

Our recent nature study has been concentrating on winter birds, and mostly winter birds in our garden.

Charlotte Mason encourages children to get to know what is living and growing in their back yard just as much as local parks and walkways, so as much as possible I'm trying to make our little back yard a point of interest and learning for my children; some what of a challenge after building work and during the winter but I'm excited about our planned spring planting and summer blooming!

As our new school cabin is situated at the bottom of our yard we've come to realise that it's a bit like our own bird hide, where as birds would normally fly away when kids are around, because we're behind wood and large windows they don't seem to care.  Yesterday we enjoyed watching starlings devouring our home made bird feeders right in front of our faces, my little Micah (3) was open mouthed and wide eyed the whole time as we whispered in wonderment and tip toed around our wooden hide away!

Today we're sharing our simple and easy bird feeder idea so you could have a go and see what appears in your back yard.

What you'll need:

2 largish apples

Half a packet of Lard

Half a cup of Bird seed

Half a cup of Oats

String

Step 1 - Cut the apples in half and carefully with a sharp knife (best for Mama to do this!) carve out the middle of the apple halves.  With a sharp point (we used a fondue fork) make a hole through the middle of the apple and thread through your string/wool, tie a knot to hold it in place. Set them to one side.

Step 2 - melt the lard in a pan, when completely melted take off the heat and add in chopped up apple bits from centre of apples, seeds and oats - stir until it's all mixed together well.

Step 3 - fill the apple halves with the mixture and press down firmly, make sure you hold the string up whilst you do this so you can hang it properly when the mixture is set.

Step 4 - Put the apple halves in a container and place in fridge (or freezer if you want quicker results) for the mixture to set and turn hard.  The lard will turn white and the mixture will be firm.

Step 5 - find places around your yard/garden to hang your lovely apple bird feeders and watch the local birds devour them!

So far we've seen starlings munching on them and sparrows nibbling them! 

Enjoy - and let me know if you give them a go!

Happy learning and many blessings from our home to yours

Leah