Help the Birds! DIY String Feeder

Ahhh Spring!  My favourite season!  I love the sight of the grass turning from brown to green, the muddy puddles, the crocuses poking their heads up through the earth – and especially the sights and sounds of birds returning from the South!

My son, Onetime, is definitely catching my passion for birds.  He had a blast making a Homemade Birds’ Nest last week and was really interested in helping to make this DIY String Feeder to help our backyard birds with their nest building!

Make a String Bird Feeder

The String Feeder is easy to make, but is a craft for parents to do with their children.  You can decide which parts to get your child involved with, based on their age and capabilities!

You Will Need:
* a wire clothes hanger
* one leg of a nylon
* string (different colours is nice!)

Step 1:  Create the Frame

Pull the wire hanger so that it becomes a diamond shape.  Have your child cut up lots of string into 3-8″ long pieces.  Stretch and pull the leg of the nylon over the hanger starting at the bottom.  Tie off the nylon at the top of the hanger.

Step 2:  Poke Holes

Using a pencil or scissors, poke small holes throughout the nylon – spacing them apart evenly.  Onetime was able to do this using a sharp pencil while I held the hanger steady for him.  I added some holes too!

Step 3:  Add the String

Push pieces of string through the holes.  The best way for little hands to do this is to show your child how to lay the string across the hole, and then show them how to push it through using a finger! Again – I helped Onetime quite a bit with this, but he enjoyed poking the strings through. Older children would be able to do this quite independently!

Step 4: Hang Your Feeder

Find a place to hang your feeder!

We chose a tree in our backyard where the local birdies often hang out. The nice thing about the clothes hanger is that you can easily squeeze the top open and closed to attach it to different sized branches of a tree, or wherever you want it to hang.

Just a little note about placement –  try to hang your “feeder” in a spot that’s highly visible to birds and yet also mostly sheltered from rain and wind if possible.   If you notice your feeder is not getting much action, try hanging something shiny near the feeder to attract attention, such as a pie plate or a ball of tinfoil.

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Happy Bird “Feeding”!