This Bakery is for the Birds

We thought the birds could use a little love this time of year, so we made a fresh batch of bird seed cookies! While we were "baking" these, we could hear birds chirping loudly outside our kitchen window. Emily kept telling them to be patient!

First, Emily traced a heart shaped cookie cutter onto corrugated cardboard (in this case, a cut up box from our invention kit).

I cut out the hearts, and poked a hole into them to thread through some red ribbon. Then, Emily spread a layer of vegetable shortening onto the cardboard, just like you would spread butter onto toast. I think this was her favorite part! You can substitute lard for this, but don't use products that contain salt, as it is bad for birds.

Next, time to sprinkle the cookies with bird seed!

We used the back of the spoon to smooch the bird seed into the shortening really well.

Delivery time!

To identify some of your "customers", you might want to try making your own inexpensive bird field guide for tots. Some other ways we've spoiled the birds include these bird feeders made from recyclables, and this bird watching kit. So much fun!!