On Friday, Ms. Chloe brought her Room 7 kindergartners to the Butterfly Garden, where they gave their feathered garden friends special handmade gifts, toilet paper tube bird feeders! This project is a popular one at our school due to the dynamic combination of crafts, hand-on learning, and nature. It’s also a quick and easy activity that some families may enjoy doing at home, so we’re including instructions below.
What you need:
Tube from a toilet paper or paper towel roll
Peanut butter or nut-free alternative (we use soy butter)
Knife or popsicle stick for spreading peanut butter
Bird seed
Twine
Steps:
String a piece of twine through the toilet paper tube.
Using a knife or popsicle stick, spread the peanut butter all around the outside of the tube.
Roll the peanut butter-covered tube in birdseed until it is thoroughly covered.
Tie the ends of the twine to make a loop.
Hang it up!
Sometimes it takes a few days or even weeks for birds to discover these or other bird feeders, so be patient! Once they’ve discovered it and eaten all the birdseed, you can recoat it or put the whole roll into the compost.