Recycled Tin Birdfeeder

by Iddle Peeps

This DIY Recycled Tin Birdfeeder craft is an engaging and creative kids activity that embraces the concepts of re-using and recycling as well as appreciation of the outdoors and bird life.
Basic painting, sticking, gluing and scissor skills are used in this activity. The age of the child will determine how involved you will need to be in this activity. My son is almost three and was able to help me tear and glue the coloured strips of paper, whilst I painted the layers with glue. It's a fun way to incorporate vocabulary into the activity- talking about the shapes, where the different coloured strips will be stuck in relation to others, what the birds will think of their bird-feeder, whereabout we would like to hang the bird-feeder and why etc.

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We use tin cans regularly in our house- especially toddler formula tins... which is what we've used in this craft. It's ideal because it doesn't have any of the sharp edges and the tin also comes with a plastic lid which forms an important structural component of the bird feeder. Large coffee tins would also work well for this.

It simply involves the use of paper or wood glue, to line the tin with strips of newspaper, followed by strips of coloured paper of your choice. Given that this will be outside, it's important to paint a waterproof glue sealant over the top layer of paper strips - I used one thick coat of Mod Podge on the outside of the tin.

What you'll need for the recycled tin birdfeeder:

One large tin can (preferably with a lid)

Enough newspaper to cover the outside of the can

Strips of coloured paper of varying thickness

Strong tape

Paper or wood glue

Paintbrush

Waterproof type clear liquid glue to cover the tin can

Waterproof material to cover the lid (we used coloured foam)

String or fishing wire (to hang the feeder)

Bird Seed as appropriate

For full instructions, see website.

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1 question

Susan gibbs on Aug 14, 2017

How did you treat the opposite end? Could you have done the same treatment to both ends by cutting out the bottom, and using the other half of the plastic lid? I really like this project.

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