Turning a pine cone into a bird feeder is easy, cheap and beneficial to wildlife. What could be better? So this makes it a perfect craft for any young budding ornithologist in the family!
Picking the Best Pine Cone!
Now this is a great chance to get outside with your high energy bundles of joy. We were lucky enough to be able to appoint a head cone finder. They are so much closer to the ground it just makes sense! We gave strict parameters around the perfect cone and we went for the widest flattest type. Not all of the ones which had dropped off were open but when you get home just pop on top of the radiator for a while to dry them out.
Other things you will need
Nothing too worrying just a few ingredients you will have around teh house are required here. We used twine we also use Wild Bird Food Seed Mix 
Serious Advice Time!! Our head cone finder is also our unofficial head mess maker. So for all that you love about your kitchen and home, do this outside on your porch or patio!! The seeds do and will fly very far and when they are greasy it will make your family laugh a lot, however they are the devils own seeds once greased!
Constructing your Pine Cone Bird Feeder
Now I have attempted this with a spoon or butter knife. But who am I kidding? Get stuck in with your hands!
Wrap your twine around the top of the cone so that it goes against the natural spread of the spines.
Add the lard/peanut butter or shortening to the bowl. If using lard I would only pop around a quarter of a block in or two tablespoons of peanut butter. Then it is up to you how many seeds to add but roughly one cup will suffice. Then it is time to roll up sleeves and start squidging it all together. Our head mess maker has a co-captain who is a little smaller and much more prone to try and eat the mixture. Try to avoid this as even with organic seed mix it is still not ideal.
Now you are ready to gently push all of the squidgy seedy gunk into the spines. Be as generous as possible and poke it into all of the gaps in the cone. This is a very good free moisturiser for your hands too! Remember you want your pine cone bird feeder to be the best in town!
Storing your Pine Cone Bird Feeder
Now you need to find the ideal tree for your little ones to be able to see from their favourite playing spot in the garden, or the house.
Because I am something of the evil task master I have my mucky assistants make a few at a time and then we freeze them. You can wrap them in greaseproof paper first, that way you don’t need any single use plastic.
I use this as a way to get the kids thinking about Christmas Presents for the wildlife and there are lots of other ways you can encourage this. One of my favourite is the Festive Bird Feeder as it is just as simple and effective. During windfall season we also make Homemade Apple Bird Feeder and position them in a bit of a loose bird watching station.
If you are feeding the birds why not house them too? We make Teapot as a Birdhouse as we love quirky places for the birds to hang out.
So all that is left is for me to find the perfect gift for the kids to really help them enjoy the garden and the wildlife that they are helping to keep alive!
I am looking between something like National Trust: Out and About Bird Spotter 
But I was also hoping to get them Kids Binoculars as these look very professional but are actually shock proof! It’s as if they know kids very well?
As far as budget activities go this is a fun and easy one!
I like the look of the pine cones in the tree and I would love to see yours and learn which birds you all manage to encourage into your gardens!
Check out this other extra festive bird feeder as well. Why shouldn’t wildlife have a celebration in winter too?
