Macaroni Craft

This was a craft that was easy, cheap, and made all three of my kids (ages 11, 9, & 2) content, which is sometimes not an easy thing to do - at least not all at one time.  They enjoyed making each of their creations unique, and now we are enjoying watching our feathered backyard friends come to eat.

What you need:

1 gallon milk jug
paint (make sure it's not washable if you are planning on leaving it outside all the time, otherwise the rain will wash it off)
paint brushes
nature items (leaves, sticks, etc.)
glue
string

What you do:

You'll want to cut the holes yourself before you begin.  I never noticed that milk jugs have a very faint circle on one of the sides, and I used that to cut around - it's the perfect size.  Then use a nail or hole punch to punch a hole slightly below the big hole you just cut.  This will be for your brid friends to stand on while they are eating.  Finally, cut 2 more little holes just under the mouth of the jug, and thread some string through so you can hang up your bird feeder when you are finished.


Now call your kids over.  This is the where the fun really begins.  Let them paint their milk jug however they want to.  We stuck with just a couple of colors, but you can do whatever you want.  After your children are satisfied with their creations, you will need to let them dry.



While they are drying, go outside and take a nature walk, collecting twigs, leaves, flowers, or whatever you want to use to decorate your birdhouse with.

After the paint is dry, you can glue on your nature items.  Make sure you save one stick to put in the small hole, so your birds have a perch.  After that, it's all done.  



Fill it with bird food, hang it outside, and enjoy watching the diffferent birds from your neighborhood come to feast from your child's creation!