Some of the most spoiled birds in the northeast live right in my backyard. During the past few months we’ve faithfully provided gourmet food , braving ice and snow to access the feeding station. Claire spends hours snug in her pajamas
gazing out the living room window laughing at the antics of the tree clinging nuthatches and the clever tufted titmouse. You'd be hard pressed to find happier more loved birds.
Today, we are welcoming spring with homemade nesting material dispensers! I hope this will entice the birds to stick around through our gardening season eating bugs and laying eggs (hopefully where we can watch the chicks hatch).
A special thanks to Aleacia for pointing out a great literature tie in for this activity. The Best Nest is a great little book by P.D. Eastman...you might just know one of his buddies, Theodor Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss)
. It's all about a bird couple and the pursuit of a the perfect place to live. Hopefully, this little project will help our local feathered friends build just the right place for their own eggs.
. It's all about a bird couple and the pursuit of a the perfect place to live. Hopefully, this little project will help our local feathered friends build just the right place for their own eggs. 
Gather an assortment of nesting materials. Yarn, string, hair clippings, dried grass, ribbon, and cotton batting are all appropriate. The experts over at Cornell Ornithology Lab have a pretty exhaustive list of nesting materials and additional tips for attracting birds.
It's important that each strip is no longer than 4” otherwise the birds might get tangled up. We used a bunch of leftover pink yarn from our yarn heart valentine project, I can’t wait to see the festive pink colors woven into a nest!
A mesh bag an unused suet feeder would be the perfect receptacle for the nesting material. I used an old onion bag that I had on hand (the next one I have is going towards TinkerLab's cardboard sewing frame). Tease some strands through the holes and hang it up in a place birds frequent. I put mine right on our feeder station and we’ve been stalking it all day waiting to see who might grab a piece of yarn or ribbon. Claire also draped bits of yarn all over our bushes, it’s quite festive looking out there!
We’ve got our fingers crossed for lots of multicolored nests this spring! And check out the cool DIY feeder using recyclables over at Green Kids Crafts - too cute!
I'm planning to do the exact same thing. I'm laughing because it is LITERALLY the exact same thing, right down to the same bag to hold it.
ReplyDeleteTicia - they say that great minds think alike! And now, we know for sure LOL!
ReplyDeleteAaah that is really sweet! How lovely and a perfect activity for this time of year. I definitely like doing activities with my children that show them to be considerate to others and animals.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing this fun idea with us and linking up!
Maggy
Thank you so much for posting this upcycle over at The T-Shirt Diaries (http://tinyurl.com/upcycled35).
ReplyDeleteMy neighbor has one of these up year round, and every time I pass her house I think about making one. But I didn't know how until now!! Thank you! And thanks for the link. Human hair! Who knew?
ReplyDeleteVery cool idea and want to try it too. Thanks for sharing! You can also check out my recent post - http://blog.memetales.com/2011/03/counting-activities-kids-craft/
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea!
ReplyDeleteThat is a fabulous idea, I love it and we will definitely have a go this weekend! Many thanks for linking at my place.
ReplyDeleteThis is so cute- we did a similar project but didn't put it in a bag- The bag is a good idea!
ReplyDeleteHere is the link to our project- If you are interested in having a look-
http://ladyofthearts.blogspot.com/2010/03/queen-of-creativity.html
Lovely to meet you- I love your blog name!
Never even thought about providing nest materials, but around here (where the weather is pretty mild anyway) I bet that's even more important than seed or food! Thanks for the good idea! (and the book suggestion!)
ReplyDeleteI love this!
ReplyDeleteThe birds in your neighborhood will have wonderful nests.
ReplyDeleteThanks for linking to Read.Explore.Learn.
What a fun idea!! Perfect time of year to be thinking of this too... the birds are checking out our bird houses already! Thanks for linking up to For the Kids Fridays! I can't wait to see what you have to share next week!
ReplyDelete:)rachel at SunScholars.blogspot.com
this is wonderful!
ReplyDeleteLove this idea! I posted it about it on our Green Kid Craft blog. You can check out our recent post on recycled pontoon boats made from pop bottles at:
ReplyDeletehttp://greenkidcrafts.com/craftideas/?p=70