After our recent pine cone bird feeders didn’t get much nibbling from neighborhood birds, we wanted to give our feathered friends more of a perch to stand on while having a late autumn snack! This project from Barefoot Books is a great way to recycle juice or non-dairy milk cartons.

Adults, cut a rectangular opening in one side of a clean, empty carton, making sure it’s about 2 inches from the bottom of the carton.

Now give your child carte blanche to decorate however they please. We wanted to make our carton bright and vibrant for the birds, so added colorful buttons and pom poms.

And then Travis decided we needed glitter… lots of glitter!

At this point we left the carton to dry overnight. The next day, poke two holes in the bottom of the carton. Select a stick from outside to be the perch; insert through the holes.

Use a hole punch to make a hole in the top of the carton, and thread with string. My milk carton was so thick that I ended up hot gluing the string instead, which worked in a pinch.

Now find a beautiful place to hang it, and fill with  birdseed!

To continue the fun, consider purchasing a kid-friendly field guide to birds, and check off the visitors you receive over the winter.