Feeding the birds is a fun activity for children to get involved in, it’s a way they can clearly see what they’re doing is good by the birds eating and coming to the garden. There’s a lot of different things you can make for your garden birds – the funest and messiest is definitely making bird suet treats!
I’m combining some SPC Select’s bird mix with vegetable suet (or you can use regular suet) and crushing it all up and mixing with your hands until there are no suet lumps left, just one big clump of yummy bird mix!
I make these into balls to put into a fat ball feeder which is a lot of fun, but for children under 5/6 with little coordination or limited attention span, then make it fun by introducing moulds. These make it easier for kids to focus, by pushing the suet into all the corners of mould – I’ve used a rabbit mould! But to make balls, use a cake pop mould and fill full of mix then push together to make a ball.
Once you’ve made your treats, put them in a tray or leave them in their moulds overnight or a couple of hours in the fridge just to toughen them up a little bit, otherwise they crumble easily and makes it too easy for the birds to eat!