Everyone knows that in winter, it’s a lot harder for our wildlife to find the food they need. That’s why it’s lovely to give our birds a little helping hand and a free meal. Cookie cutter bird feeders are really simple to create and make the perfect winter activity to do with children. There’s lots of stirring, spooning, transferring and patting involved to improve those motor skills and teaching children to care for our wildlife and environment is something I am a big fan of. Make sure you get in all the nooks and crannies and pat the bird feed down so it’s all compact. Use a pencil or straw to make a hole! Place your cookie butters on your freezer proof tray/chipping board and spoon in the mixture carefully.

Once the lard has set, carefully remove the bird feeders from the cookie cutters and thread some twine or ribbon through the hole you made with the pencil. Below is the recipe and a few links to products that I have found which will make everything a little easier for you. Please be aware that measurements are only a rough estimate as some bird feed will require more/less lard. Slowly add 300g of bird feed to the lard. Listen carefully and you will hear some of the seeds popping! Remember when filling up the cookie cutters that you want to aim to have bird seed sitting in lard, rather than a little bit of lard sitting in bird feed. You Will Need:

Required Cookies & Technologies

Place in the freezer for a few hours – this sets the lard again. Make sure the lard has set fully before removing the bird feeders from the cookie cutters. Hang up in your trees, on your bird houses, or wherever else your birds like to hang out and wait and watch! If you like this, how about trying out these great Pine Cone Bird Feeders from Whimisical Mumblings blog? As I said before, it’s really easy to make these cookie cutter bird feeders and they’re great fun to make with children.

Melt 150g of lard in a saucepan on a medium heat. You don’t need to worry about stirring it, it will all just melt on it’s own.