Birdhouse Craft

What You Need:                  

• Cardboard box​
• Box cutter
• Scissors
• Twig or stick
• Old hardback book
• Hot glue gun
• Glue stick
• Permanent markers
• Pencil

What You Do:

1. Give your child an empty cardboard box for a birdhouse base. Find an old children’s hardcover book they have outgrown, or buy an inexpensive one at a yard sale or secondhand store. Make sure the book you use fits over the top of the cardboard box when opened up.
2. Cut off the box lid with a box cutter (the top gets replaced by the open hardcover book). Leave the other two box lids propped up for the birdhouse’s front and back.
3. Have your child draw two lines on the front and back of the box lids where the opened book cover lines up. The parent can cut along pencil lines with the box cutter.  It’s okay to have a ventilation gap between the birdhouse roof and sides.
4. Help your child cut out all the pages from the book, and save them to decorate the birdhouse.
5. You or your child can use the hot glue gun to attach the book cover, open in a triangle position to be the birdhouse roof, to the box base.
6. After the glue dries, your child can use scissors to cut the book pages into the shape of the birdhouse’s sides.  Have them use a glue stick to attach the pictures.
7. They can also use permanent markers to color blank box areas.
8. Next, have them draw a small circle in pencil on the front of the birdhouse. Carefully cut out the circle with a box cutter.
9. Lastly, help them find a twig or stick from outside. They'll poke a hole under the circle with scissors and insert the stick into the hole to give visiting birds a place to rest.
10. Because the birdhouse is not completely waterproof, hang it under a well-covered area like a porch, awning, or shady tree.  Enjoy watching birds hang out and “read”!