Help residents enjoy the hobby of birdwatching by adding in a fun bird feeder or birdhouse craft each week to your arts and crafts activity. By having residents assemble and decorate the bird feeders and birdhouses, they may become more interested in seeing which birds are attracted to the bird crafts that they helped assemble.
Here are several bird feeders and birdhouses to consider adding to your weekly arts and crafts activities this Spring:
Ceramic Birdhouses
Color-Me Ceramic Bisque Birdhouse
Have residents use acrylic paints to decorate ceramic birdhouse before applying an outdoor sealant for hanging outdoors. Have fun by giving each resident a different theme to paint the birdhouse, like Caribbean (using vibrant colors), jungle (using shades of green), and Tie-Dye (using swirls of colors).
Color-Me Glazed Ceramic Bird Feeder – COMing soon!
Invite residents to decorate ceramic bird feeder using permanent markers. Once decorated, add birdseed to the interior and hang.
Wood Birdhouses
Gazebo Bird Feeder
Provide residents with gazebo bird feeder to paint with acrylic paints and an outdoor sealant before hanging outdoors. Encourage each resident to paint their bird feeder in a different paint color to add a variety of color to your outdoor garden.
Apple Bird Feeder
Encourage residents to paint or stain apple birdfeeder. Then help residents coat small apples with peanut butter before rolling in bird seed. Next, use the bird feeder’s skewer to pierce the apple before securing in the feeder. Hang the feeders near large picture windows in your facility for residents to view the feedings.
Log Cabin Birdhouse
Assist residents with assembling log cabins using the glue, sandpaper, and wooden pieces provided in the kit. Use the finished log cabins as birdfeeders by painting them with an outdoor sealer before placing them on flat surfaces in the garden.
Lighthouse Bird House
Recruit residents to paint lighthouse birdhouses using acrylic paint, stain, and an outdoor sealer. Hang the finished feeders using the kit’s twine.
Find more ideas from Notjustbingo on the S&S blog here.
About Not Just Bingo:
Not Just Bingo is an online resource of fun, senior activity ideas for activity professionals of assisted living facilities. They have been providing fun activity ideas online since 2009, and continue to assist activity professionals across the country by creating meaningful and engaging activity ideas for their residents that go “beyond bingo.” Not Just Bingo feels privileged to help activity directors better the living experiences of their residents while demonstrating that a senior’s quality of life can actually improve when they move to a senior facility!
Want even more ideas each month? Visit www.notjustbingo.com for how-to activity ideas, monthly newsletters, and daily holiday ideas. You can also sign up for the Notjustbingo Membership to receive specialized activity ideas to keep your residents and staff engaged, active, and having fun!
