Bird bath and brunch for kids

INSTEAD of trying to explain to your kids that calling out “here, birdy, birdy, birdy” doesn’t work, why not just show them what will work?

In the leaner, winter months, nothing says “come to my garden” quite like providing food and water for our feathered friends.

Here are two easy DIY projects for kids, one for bathing and one for feeding. If you’re not into DIY, your local accredited garden centre has loads of ready-made items you could pick up.

For all those kids who like to get their hands busy, let’s start with a quick bird bath.

 What you’ll need:

•  1 x 36cm coloured plastic pot

 1 x 30cm coloured plastic pot

 1 x 25cm coloured plastic pot

 1 x 40cm saucer, as deep as possible

 Glue suitable for plastic

 2 x sizeable rocks from the garden

 Step 1

Stack the coloured pots upside down, from biggest to smallest, popping in a rock for added weight and using glue to keep them together.

 Step 2

Glue the saucer to the bottom of the top pot.

 Step 3

Find a nice place in the garden for your bird bath, preferably somewhere unobscured where you’ll be able to see them bathing. Fill the saucer with water and wait for your feathered friends to discover their new gift!

And now time for some brunch!

 What you’ll need:

•  Old coke bottle (washed and dried)

 Wild bird seed

 Two wooden spoons

 Scissors

 String

 Funnel

 Step 1

Carefully cut two “x marks the spot” shapes in your coke bottle, opposite each other, about 10-15cm from the bottom of the bottle. They should be just tall enough for your wooden spoon handle to slide in. Do same 10-15 cm higher up, but on the other quarters of the bottle, so when you slide both spoons in they sit perpendicular to each other and form a cross when viewed from above.

 Step 2

On the side with a spoon, cut the top two flaps of the “x marks the spot” shape so a small hole forms where your bird seed can run out. Repeat the process with the spoon above.

 Step 3

Pour seed into bottle using the funnel. Tighten the lid properly, tie some string around it to form a loop and hang it in a tree, sit back and wait for the birds to notice and enjoy. — Life is a Garden Campaign on behalf of the SA Nursery Association. For more information, visit www.lifeisagarden.co.za