Image Alt
 • Quest Kids  • Cheap and Free Crafts to Keep Kids Entertained this Summer
Cheap and Free Crafts to Keep Kids Entertained this Summer

Cheap and Free Crafts to Keep Kids Entertained this Summer

For many parents, the summer holidays can be expensive, with entertaining during the break expected to set parents back a staggering £200, a survey cited in The Express revealed. Further to this, 64% were concerned about how they will balance the heightened costs of having their children at home for the summer with less disposable income to keep them entertained. With money feeling tighter than ever for many, as the cost-of-living crisis has forced millions of us to tighten our purse strings, birdwatching app, Birda, unveils their guide to making easy cost effective crafts, fostering a healthy mindset for curiosity while helping Brits keep their holiday spend down this summer through DIY crafts.

1. Hanging Birdseed Ornaments

 

 What you will need:

  • Scrap Cardboard Box
  • Colouring Pens/Crayons/Paint/Decorative bits
  • Shape to cut around or cookie cutter
  • Scissors
  • Holepunch
  • String/Ribbon
  • Peanut Butter
  • Child-friendly cutting tool
  • Flat dish or tin
  • Birdseed

Step 1
Get a shape to cut around, you can use a heart-shaped tin and an old CD if you have them laying around.

Step 2
Decorate one side with anything you like. Consider some colouring, some glitter glue and some stickers for extra fun.

Step 3
Punch a hole in the top and thread through a length of string long enough to hang from the branch of a tree or bush. About 60cm works for a hanging length of 30cm.

Step 4
Paste a thin layer of peanut butter on the non-decorated side. A ‘no salt no sugar’ brand will be much better for our feathered friends! Put some birdseed into a flat dish or tin and place the cardboard shape, peanut butter side down to coat in seed. If you don’t have any birdseed, you can create your own with any of the following ingredients:

  • Sunflower seeds – the most popular choice for many birds so make sure this is the largest quantity in your mix
  • Unsalted peanuts – crushed up will stick better to the cardboard
  • Cracked corn
  • Dried fruit
  • Uncooked porridge oats
 

Step 5
Hang your ornament from the branch of a tree and wait for the birds to come!

2. Tin Can Bird Feeder

 

 

What you will need:

  • Tin Cans
  • Paint
  • Glue
  • Wooden dowel or lollipop stick
  • Ribbon
  • Birdseed

Step 1
Clean out your tin can and make sure that the label is removed and that the cut edge is not sharp. Paint the base and outer edges of the can. It will need a couple of coats. If you want the paint to stick better then you could even use a basecoat of oil based primer or undercoat.

Step 2
Add some decoration to your cans, we kept it simple with coloured spots.
Hang your ornament from the branch of a tree and wait for the birds to come!

Step 3
Use lollipop sticks or some wooden dowel sticks to create a perch for the birds to land on. Glue this to the inside of the can. We used a hot glue gun so make sure an adult does this part!

Step 4
Using a hammer and a nail, punch two holes in the top of the can to tie your string. We tied separate lengths of string so that the feeder can be hung at an angle to ensure that the seed doesn’t fall out.

Step 5
Put some bird seed into the bottom of the can – remember you can make your own if you want to – and then find a good place to hang them. We made an addition to one of our cans to add a plastic lip to stop the seed falling out. You can take a plastic yoghurt pot lid and cut a hole in it to fit over the lollipop stick then we cut around the can to create the shape. You could secure it in place with some glue too if you want to make it extra secure.
Not five minutes after we’d hung them and we spotted a cheeky squirrel coming to investigate! Now we need to keep a close eye out for some birds and, of course, chase the squirrels away.

About Birda:
Birda – an innovative birdwatching app for curious people who want to deepen their connection with the outdoors – aims to create an inclusive community to experience, enjoy, and protect the nature and wildlife wherever you are. Whether you live in the countryside or in the city, Birda allows users to explore and appreciate the nature that surrounds them through a free, easy-to-use tool for logging the birdlife around you – all you have to do is head out and look up.

John and Natalie White, Birda Co-Founder’s, discuss the launch of the app:
“Our mission is to promote the enjoyment and appreciation of birdwatching as a means of connecting people with nature. We believe that people need to experience the natural world before they fight to protect it. We believe that nature is for everyone, and we know that spending time connecting with it makes people happier and healthier. Whether you’re a seasoned birdwatcher or just starting out, we want everyone to feel included and welcomed.

“Having worked for two large multinationals, I realized that corporate life was not what I wanted. Together, Natalie and I had an idea to turn our passion for wildlife and the outdoors into a business. We launched our first website and mobile app in 2013 for users to share their wildlife sightings from parks and reserves across Southern Africa. Life’s been an epic adventure ever since, and I look forward to continuing it with Birda.” – John White, Birda Co-Founder.

“The healing power of nature was paramount in getting me through my struggles with cancer. It’s motivated me to do more to protect our natural world, inspire others to do the same, and leave a legacy for my daughters.” – Natalie White, Birda Co-Founder.

phone food photography tips

BECOME A QUESTER

SUBSCRIBE NOW TO GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES, PLUS ACCESS TO OUR JOB BOARD & EVENTS!

We don’t spam!

We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. View more
Cookies settings
Accept
Privacy & Cookie policy
Privacy & Cookies policy
Cookie name Active

Who we are

Suggested text: Our website address is: https://questbg.com.

Comments

Suggested text: When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection. An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

Media

Suggested text: If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.

Cookies

Suggested text: If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year. If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser. When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select "Remember Me", your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed. If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.

Embedded content from other websites

Suggested text: Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website. These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

Who we share your data with

Suggested text: If you request a password reset, your IP address will be included in the reset email.

How long we retain your data

Suggested text: If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue. For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.

What rights you have over your data

Suggested text: If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

Where your data is sent

Suggested text: Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.
Save settings
Cookies settings