How to Make a Stunning Birds Nest Craft

Wouldn’t you love your child to make this stunningly realistic homemade birds’ nest to hold their beautifully dyed Easter eggs this year? Can you believe that my 2.5 year old son basically made this nest by himself (with very little assistance from me)?

Learning about birds and spring, while developing a little scientist, is all a part of today’s birds’ nest adventure!

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Making the Birds Nest

Onetime’s Challenge – to build a nest for “Little Birdie”

You Will Need:

• White Glue
• Lots of string cut up into 5-6 ” lengths
• Shredded paper
• Spanish moss, or other decorative moss
• Decorative grasses
• Decorative feathers
• A balloon and a small bowl

Artistic Note: If you want the nest to look realistic, choose natural coloured materials.  For a totally different look, choose brightly coloured string, shredded paper, and feathers!

Step 1: Make Your Mold

Blow up a small balloon so it fits nicely into a bowl the size of the nest that you want to make.  In a large, wide container, mix white glue with a little water to thin it out.

SCIENCE NOTE:  While you are getting started, this is a great time to discuss why birds make nests!  What does your child think?

I’ve been working on waiting at least 10 seconds after asking my son a question.  I read recently that children under age 3 can take that long to put their thoughts into words!

Step 2: Build the Nest

Show your kiddo how to dip the string into the glue and then squeeze it or run it between fingers to get the extra glue off.  Then have your kiddo place the string onto the balloon wherever they like.

You may have to help with the first few to get them started and feeling confident about the process.  (It’s okay to have too much glue – it just takes longer to dry that’s all!)

SCIENCE NOTE:  As Onetime was working away – we talked about how birds use all of these materials, plus sticks and twigs to make their nests!Encourage your kiddo to keep adding string and then other materials until the balloon is covered.

Once Onetime (my 2.5 year old son) got going with this, he had a blast!  He just needed occasional reminders to add lots of glue to the Spanish Moss and shredded paper.

SCIENCE NOTE: While your child is building, ask them what they think birds use to keep the nest together instead of glue.  (Answer: Mud! and lots of it!)

Step 3: Drying the Nest

Let the nest dry on the balloon for at least 4 hours.  It’s really hard for little ones to wait this long.  I had to put our nest “out of sight” for a bit!

Step 4: Popping the Mold

Last, it was the really fun part – the popping of the balloon!I love how Onetime’s nest turned out!We plan on using this beautiful nest as a centrepiece for our Easter brunch – filled with brightly coloured eggs of course!

Enriching the Learning with Books

Before we made our birds nest, we did a little reading about birds and Springtime and the purpose of a nest.  Our three favourite books for young children about birds are:

1.  Have You Seen Birds? by Joanne Oppenheim and illustrated by Barbara Reid

Kids will learn about many different kinds of birds with this catchy rhyming non-fiction text. Barbara Reid’s plasticine illustrations are wonderfully detailed and endearing.

2.  Fine Feathered Friends: All About Birds by Tish Rabe and illustrated by Aristides Ruiz

This book is very Dr. Seuss-like in a good way. It has lots of rhyming text and provides a great overview of the peculiarity of different birds from around the world.
3.  The Magic School Bus Flies from the Nest

An oldie, but a goodie packed with tons of information and engaging pictures. These grade three students and their wacky teacher go on a fun adventure when one of the kids discovers a bird’s nest. My son loves all the Magic School Bus books – and I enjoy reading them too!

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Cheers,