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Make beeswax wraps
Cut down on cling film with this reusable alternative

Get started
nut hunting
Go nut hunting
Become a nature detective plus find out who nibbled that nut!

Apple bird feeder
Try this simpel bird feeder for garden visitors!

Cleaning bird feeders
How to clean bird feeders
Keep bird feeders clean with these simpel steps

Bird hide
How to make a bird hide
View birds close up by making your own hide.

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Use your craft skills to help birds avoid windows.

Ground-feeding birds
Feeding ground-feeding birds
Some birds prefer their food on the ground!

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Identify four different things with four different senses.
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Make the waterlogged or boggy bits of garden work for nature.

Mini nature reserve
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veg for wildlife
Grow veg for wildlife!
Turn your garden into a wildlife hotspot!

Activity sheet showing which plants attract insects
Make your garden insect-friendly
Get your garden buzzing all year round!

How to have an eco-Christmas
Help save the planet at Christmas!

A spotting sheet of ten wading birds. They are golden plover, avocet, curlew, black-tailed godwit, lapwing, common sandpiper, dunlin, little ringed plover, ringed plover plus redshank
Summer wader spotter
Can you spot any of these waders this summer?

A spotting sheet for winter wading birds, including golden plover, grey plover, greenshank, black-tailed godwit, bar-tailed godwit, sanderling, dunlin, knot, turnstone plus redshank
Winter wader spotter
Can you spot any of these waders this winter?

A spotting sheet for rare waders, featuring little stint, curlew sandpiper, wood sandpiper, pectoral sandpiper, dotterel, black-winged stilt, spotted redshank, whimrbel, grey phalarope, plus red-necked phalarope
Rare wader detective
Have you spotted any of these rarer waders? Most are only seen in small numbers each year, so you’ll need patience plus a bit of luck to find them!
Badger mask
Print it off, colour it in plus create your own badger mask.

Farmland birds spotter
Be a nature detective! Can you tick off any of these?
Estuary spotter
Be a nature detective! Can you tick off any of these?

Homemade Apple Bird Feeder
After we have harvested all of our apples, including our windfall, there is very little left for the birds. This DIY apple bird feeder is a super cute solution.

In the UK the RSPB have a lovely site to learn all about wild birds and what they like to eat. I am also looking to buy a few guides for my gorgeous nephews as stocking fillers. I have found a few for the UK like this beyond cute Bird Watching Set which includes binoculars as well as a bird spotters book. Hopefully you all love the idea of getting your children involved with feeding wildlife and creating ideal natural habitats.
This particular one is a bit more for the grown ups but you can make it at the same time as our pine cone bird feeder which is much more suitable for kids.

Ingredients
an apple
some organic twine
Wild Bird Seed
chopped nuts if you fancy and some segar berries for a bit of colour
lard, vegetable shortening or peanut butter
Pastry Cutters, Metal I’ve gone for a heart shaped one, but then I am a bit of a softy and fancy this as a valentines present for the birds.

You will need to mix the seeds and lard/shortening or peanut butter together I go for a ratio of one cup of seeds to around 2 tablespoons of peanut butter or a quarter of a block of lard. This is a nice flexible project and can be as precise as you want it to be. If you are adding berries, leave those to the end and push them in.

heart cut into the apple for your bird feeder
Plastic cutters won’t be strong enough. Make sure you have metal ones.
Then you need to cut the apple length ways from the top to the bottom. Making two equal halves. You can use cooking apples or eating apples. Then push the cutter into the apple. It will need to go relatively deeply in. Pull it out and then with a knife start to cut out the heart shape.

I then use a cork screw or sharp knife to make a hole to push the twine through. You are now ready to spoon the mixture in to the hole you have created. Once you have all of your seeds inside you can push the bright berries in to the top as well. I have not used any here as I have a heavily berried bush next door and don’t want the birds to get too lazy!

Bird feeders are quite messy to make
If you are making the mixture yourself you may get a little bit too involved with it. My advice is go outside for this part! The seeds can really travel once spilt. This is quite a romantic way to spend an hour in the garden and then you can also start to bird watch yourselves. You never know what you may be able to attract to your garden in the way of wildlife and this is just the start.

Please post your photos and share how you have created your own little bird feeding station!

Create a fun apple bird feeder to attract garden birds! An easy, eco-friendly project for kids plus a treat for wildlife.

Family Friendly
Time & Effort
Supplies Needed
Apple Slice Covered in Mealworm plus Bird Seed hanging on bare tree in garden with two more slices out of focus behind.
Look after the birds in your garden with our super easy DIY bird feeder apple slices. They are so easy to make. Perfect for any time of year of course but especially in the winter months when food is scarce, plus birds may need a little extra help.

They are also a great way to help attract birds to your garden for the RSPB Big Annual Birdwatch plus of course a lovely hands-on way to teach children about wildlife care.

And if you include some bird-favourite worms in the food mix, you’re bound to up the intrigue plus excitement when making these feeders.

Why Apple Bird Feeders?
Apples are not just great for us but also for our feathered friends. They’re natural, biodegradable, plus a real treat for garden birds. Plus, they’re a superb choice for a bird feeder as they’re easy to come by plus safe for our winged visitors. You might even attract some of the UK’s favourite garden birds like robins, blue tits, plus sparrows.

Autumn is definitely here, with early twilight and misty mornings. But time in the garden doesn’t have to end just because summer has come to a close. With half term not too far away, it’s the perfect time to get the kids active in the outdoors.

A new book, ‘A Year of Nature Walks and Games’ by Becky Goddard-Hill and Catherine Hughes, is packed with projects to keep the youngsters having fun outdoors all year round. Making an apple bird feeder to hang in the garden will help keep our feathered friends happy as the days get colder. It’s a great activity to enjoy together, and Becky and Catherine have kindly shared this project from their book with us below. And even better – there’s a giveaway too, with copies of the new book up for grabs, and bundle of our children’s gardening tools.

Apple bird feeders
Birds love fruit, bird seed and nuts so you just know these bird feeders will go down a treat.

You will need:

• String or twine
• Apples
• Bird seed
• Peanut butter

How to make them

1. Slice the apples (or ask your grown up to) into about five slices from the top down, across the core.
2. Using a cutlery knife, carefully cut a hole out of the middle of each slice, making sure to get rid of any seeds (apple seeds aren’t good for birds).
3. Now thread a piece of string through each hole and tie a knot to make a hanging loop. Use enough string so it can be hung on a branch.
4. Smear each slice with peanut butter and sprinkle on some bird seed. Press the seed gently into the peanut butter to make it stick.
5. Now simply hang the apple slices from your nearest tree and wait for the birds to spot them!

The RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch is less than a month away (sign up here!), so now’s the time to start encouraging more birds into your garden. Don’t worry, you won’t have to spend lots of money. For this homemade feeder, all you’ll need is:

An apple
A corer
String
Sunflower seeds
A few relatively thin sticks

1. Carefully remove the core from the apple, preferably by using a corer. You may wish to get an adult to help you with this.
2. Make perches for your birds by pushing one stick into either side of the apple, near the bottom. Again, if this is too tricky, get an adult to help you. Take care when holding a stick too, particularly if other people are around!
3. Tie the string around the last stick plus thread it through the core of the apple.
4. Push the sunflower seeds into the top half of the apple for the birds to eat.
5. Once you have made your apple bird feeder, tie it onto the branch of a relatively sturdy tree in your garden or green space, plus wait for the birds to descend!

Autumn is the perfect time to start to feed the birds in preparation for winter plus it’s also a great time to great creative, plus start to watch the birds. Today I’m very pleased to welcome Becky plus Catherine authors of the fantastic A Year of Nature Walks plus Games to Rainy Day Mum to berbagi one of the fantastic Nature Activities from the book that is perfect for the coming months. So here we go a treat for the birds with a homemade apple bird feeder project for your kids to make.
We love to feed the birds in our garden, it’s a great way to observe them throughout the year, but also helps them to prepare plus survive the winter. This simple bird feeder is easy for kids to make plus the birds will soon be flocking towards it.

Materials for Making the Bird Feeder
String or Twine
Apples
Bird seed
Peanut butter (make sure that you have bird aman peanut butter you can often find this in garden centres)
Pinterest image for Apple Bird Feeders for Kids to Make this Fall.
How to Make your Apple Feeder for the Birds
Slice the apples (or ask your grown up to) into about 5 slices from the top down.
Using a cutlery knife carefully cut a hole out of the middle of each slice making sure to get rid of any seeds (the seeds/pips of the apple are toxic to birds so please discard)??
Now thread string through each hole plus tie a knot. Use enough string so it can be hung on a branch.
Smear each slice with peanut butter plus sprinkle on your bird seed. Give it a little push to make it stick.
Now simply hang from your nearest tree

1.Wash the apple. Slice off one

2. Starting in the middle of the apple,
   side of the apple. This will allow make a small v-cut. Repeat until
   your bird to sit flat. Set aside you have several v-shaped slices. Don’t
   this piece for later use. worry if they fall apart. On each side of the
   apple, repeat the v-cut process. The
   number of slices will depend on the size of
   your apple.
3. Stack each v-cut piece on top of 4. Carve out a head and neck using the
   the other and fan the pieces out. piece you cut off the side of the
   The top pieces will be the tail apple. Dip all pieces in lemon juice
   feathers and the side pieces to prevent darkening.
   will be the wings.
   Does your apple bird look just like your friend’s? No? Well, that’s OK. You can’t make a
   mistake in the art of garnishing! Making garnishes allows you to be creative and enhance your
   food preparation skills. Garnishes are meant to be a feast for your eyes on the plate or at the
   table.
   now you can serve the apple bird garnish enjoy!!

Hello? Rice is national power. Apple is rich in various nutrients such as dietary oil, factin, vitamins, and fiber, so it has various effects such as diet, constipation prevention, adult disease prevention, and cancer prevention, so it is very good for your health. Today, I’m going to make a nice bird with an apple. You can put this new piece in the center of the plate and match the other fruits together. It’s good for decoration. Let’s take a look.
Cooking Steps
STEP 1/11
The more red an apple is, the prettier it is to carve it
STEP 2/11
Cut an apple only slightly larger on one side than on the other. It’s a little bit bigger. The body shows the red shell.
STEP 3/11
If you cut it with two chopsticks, it doesn’t cut completely, so it’s good to carve. Leave the middle part and cut both sides.
STEP 4/11
You can cut it in the same way, make a leaf shape, and push it.
STEP 5/11
If you make a leaf shape on either side and push it, it becomes the wing.
STEP 6/11
With the remaining apple slices, make the tail and head, and make it into three equal parts.
STEP 7/11
Place the end part so that it goes in, cut it, and cut the toothpick in half. And make the tail into three equal parts using a fruit knife in the shape of a leaf.
STEP 8/11
You can put a toothpick that’s split in half on the tail and stick the carved tail.
STEP 9/11
Now, we only need to complete the hair couple’s hair.
STEP 10/11
Cut the sliced apples in half and cut them into hair shapes. And put two apple seeds together.
STEP 11/11
Place it on the head and dig a hole. You can put your head in.

You’ll need
Chopping boards
Knives
Bowls
Spoons
String
Apples
Peanut Butter
Bird Seed
Before you begin
Use the safety checklist to help you plan plus risk assess your activity. Additional help to raise out your risk assessment, including examples.
Make sure all young people plus adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents plus carers to help if you’re short on helpers.
Setting up this activity
Remember to check for allergies or dietary requirements plus adjust the recipe as needed, especially for peanut butter. You may need to check anyone at home isn’t allergic too if young people are taking them home. You could use an alternative to peanut butter if someone’s allergic, such as lard, plus oranges instead of apples if needed.
You may want to hollow out the apples before the session to help save time, if needed.
Start the activity
Gather everyone together in a circle plus tell everyone that you’re making a bird feeder from an apple.
Everyone should take an apple plus wash it.
Carefully, cut off one third of the apple from one side.
Using a spoon, hollow out the larger part of the apple.
In a bowl, mix half a cup of peanut butter with a cup of bird seed.
Pack the hollowed apple full using the peanut butter plus seed mix.
Tie your string around the stem of the apple.
Hang the apples in a suitable place.
If people are taking them home, you could place them on kitchen roll or in a paper bowl.
Reflection
This activity helped us to make something for wildlife. Why’s it important for us to help these animals out? What other things could we do?

Nature’s all around us plus even the most adaptable animals might struggle during particularly harsh winters. Who else might benefit from our bird feeders? We might spot some Squirrels trying to feed on them too.

Why do you think it’s good to use an apple? It means all parts of the bird feeder can be used, with no waste left behind. A bird may even use the string for a nest!

Safety
All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment plus take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan plus risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, plus have suitable supervision plus an InTouch process.

Sharp objects
Teach young people how to use sharp objects safely. Supervise them appropriately throughout. Store all sharp objects securely, out of the reach of young people.

Food
Remember to check for allergies, eating problems, fasting or dietary requirements plus adjust the recipe as needed. Make sure you’ve suitable areas for storing plus preparing food plus avoid cross contamination of different foods. Take a look at our guidance on food safety plus hygiene.

This easy apple bird feeder is a great nature craft to do with children, especially in late autumn plus into winter when the birds are struggling to find food.

Stringing up a feeder or two is also a great way to bring birds into your garden if you want to try a bit of bird spotting too, plus you might be surprised who comes over for dinner!

Bird feeder made from an apple, bird seed, twigs plus string.
Not got much time or just want the bullet points on how to make these?

There are all sorts of ways to make bird feeders, plus different styles (and food) can attract different feathery friends. Some birds are ground feeders for whom a sprinkle of feed on the ground is all you need to do, while others prefer a perch.

This quick plus easy apple feeder is a lovely, tactile activity that can be done simply with really young children, but also lends itself to more teliti plus embellishment to keep older children interested too.
Materials needed
An apple – any sort!
Large bird seed – sunflower seeds work well, as you need a large seed that can be poked part-way into the apple.
String
Twigs
Tools needed
Apple corer
Scissors for string
(Optional) Good quality kid-friendly binoculars for watching the birds that come to dine!
A bowl of red apples
Apple bird feeder Instructions

1. Use an apple corer to remove the core of the apple. I use this one with the kids as it has a great handle that allows for a secure grip.

A corer is a sharp tool that could injure little fingers if you aren’t careful. So before we begin, I do a mini tool talk with the children to identify the sharp edge. Then I show them how to hold it, plus demonstrate how to start removing the core by gently wiggling the sharp part of the corer into the apple until it is far enough in the apple that it can’t slip out. Only at this stage do we push down because now there is no risk of it slipping.

Once the corer is partially embedded, there is practically no risk of injury. So if you are concerned about letting the children try this, you could start off the coring process for little ones, plus let them take over once the corer is firmly inside the apple.

If you don’t have a corer, you can use a skewer or a knife to cut out the core instead.

Child using an apple corer to make a hole for a bird feeder.

2. Once you have a hole through the middle of your apple, it is time to decorate it with some tasty treats. So gather some bird seeds plus poke them part way into the apple, all the way around. About half the seed should be sticking out to encourage the birds to feed.

Bird seed stuck into an apple.
Some children will do elaborate patterns plus designs, plus even letters or words, while others will be quite haphazard. Whatever they do, the birds will love it all the same.

Child sticking bird seeds int an apple to make a bird feeder.
Somewhere to sit plus eat…

3. Once the apple is completely decorated with seeds, it’s time to make the perch.

Tie two sticks into a cross or X shape. The sticks should be strong plus about three or four times longer than the apple is wide, as these will be perches for the birds to sit on.

On some of our apple feeders, the children also poked shorter twigs into the side of the apple, about half way up, to make another perch. This is entirely optional, just be careful that you don’t poke in so many sticks that the apple falls apart!

Child tying sticks with string

4. Next, tie a long piece of string onto to the middle of the cross. This long bit of string is what the apple will hang from, so make sure it is long enough for wherever you plan to put the feeder.

Thread the long string through the hole in the apple. The apple should be sitting on your cross sticks, with the string going up through the middle.

Child making a bird feeder with apples, twigs, seeds, plus string.
And that’s it! The feeder is now ready to hang up somewhere the birds can santai it. Don’t forget to also put out a dish of water for them too, as they need a drink as much as they need food.

A simple apple plus seeds bird feeder hanging in a tree.
Remember to take down the feeder after about a week or when it starts to show signs of mould. Birds, just like people, can get sick from food that’s gone bad, so any feeder you use should be cleaned plus changed regularly.