Make Birdseed Cookies

Share kindness with feathered friends.

Young nature lovers will enjoy whipping up a batch of bird treats and watching the local bird population flock to the feast.

This simple video will help you get started!

Possible recipients

The full recipe below creates around 30 cookies. Use them to spread good cheer in the community!

• Share them with a lonely neighbor.

• Donate them to a local senior care home.

• Or hang them outside the window of a friend recovering from surgery.

Seem complicated?

Visit our Pinterest Board: For the Birds to find the perfect bird feeder for your family (including this super simple version featuring cheerios and yarn or pipe cleaners).

What you'll need

• 2 cups flour

• 1/2 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 cup of sugar

• 2/3 cup vegetable shortening

• 2 eggs

• 3/4 cup birdseed (use small seeds)

• 3 egg whites

• Cookie cutters

• Paper clips

• Yarn to hang cookies

Instructions

• Sift all the dry ingredients together and cut in the lard with a blunt knife.

• Add the eggs.

• Add the birdseed and knead until smooth.

• Allow the dough to chill overnight.

• Roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness and cut into shapes with cookie cutters.

• Insert a paper clip into the top of the shape to act as a hanger.

• Brush the cookie with beaten egg whites and press birdseed into the top of the cookie.

• Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 325 degrees F for 10-15 minutes or until the cookies are hard.

• String yarn through the paper clip to make a hanger and hang on a tree near a birdbath.

Reflection Questions

• How do you think the birds will feel when they find these special treats?

• How does it make you feel to make birdseed cookies and see the birds eat them?

• Why do you think it’s important to care for animals?

• What other things do you think we could do for the birds?

Resources

• Ruby’s Birds by Mya Thompson
  Discover the fun in birdwatching right along with Ruby in this fun story. Learn Ruby’s tips for taking nature walks, how to spot birds wherever you are, and connect with Celebrate Urban Birds, a citizen-science project at the Cornell Lab.

• Tea with Lady Sapphire: Sharing the Love of Birds by Carl R. Sams II and Jean Stoick
  Birds, nature, and the relationship between a grandma and her grandchildren are a gentle reminder that the simplest pleasures can often be found just outside our window.
  Ages: Pre-k to 8

• Wild Wings by Gill Lewis
  Young readers will love this gripping story about a boy from Scotland and a girl from West Africa who join together to save a migrating Osprey and share wonderful adventures along the way.
  Ages: 8 to 12

Take it further

• Hang the cookies in a place near a window where your family can watch the birds eat from indoors.

• Make “birds nest” bags to supply birds with materials to build their nests. Take a piece of netting or plastic mesh from a produce bag and fill it with things like dryer lint, pine needles, colorful ribbons, raffia, etc., and tie it at the top. Hang outside and watch your neighborhood for signs of your materials, especially ribbons in neighborhood nests.

Browse the projects in our Big-Hearted Families Toolkit!

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The recommendations we offer are based solely on our mission to empower parents to raise children who care and contribute.