PB&J Bird Seed Ornaments (with Video) ⋆ Sugar, Spice and Glitter (2024)

Ever since making our Kid-made Bird Seed Wreath a couple years ago, the kids have been obsessed with making new bird feeders and treats for the birds every Spring. These Kid-made PB&J Bird Seed Ornaments were super easy and fun for them to make – and I hope your kids will love them, too!

Cookie Cutter Bird Seed Ornaments Craft

Let me just start by saying that I have so many activities and crafts from our daycare that I haven’t yet posted here! I am trying to post as many as I can this year so that you can reap the rewards of our experiments. This project was actually done last year and itkind of came about by accident.

Usually, if we make anything for the birds with gelatine, we use an unflavoured gelatine (like Knox brand – only we buy ours in bulk from bulk stores) but of course – I thought I had some in the cupboard and when it came time for us to make these cookie cutter bird seed ornaments, all I had was flavoured Jell-O powder.

Luckily, we had a sugar-free option so I called a local veterinarian just to ensure that it was safe for the birds. He said that both the sugar and sugar-free option have so little sugar that we should be fine using it in our recipe. As long as we’re not putting them out week after week, it’s not going to change the eating habits of our neighbourhood birds.

This recipe works just as well with the unflavored Knox gelatine (or bulk store plain gelatine) if you’d prefer to use that instead.

Making treats for your local birds is a great way to involve kids in caring for our world and natural environment. Building that natural appreciation and curiosity at a young age is the easiest way to raise kids who care about animals and taking care of our world.

This can lead to bigger questions and projects down the road like building bird houses, learning bird identification, visiting a bird aviary (or going on bird watching hikes), or even volunteering at local conservation organizations that work to take care of birds and/or their natural habitats.

I also like to think that this project is an act of kindness from the kids towards the birds, and one that rewards them with bird sightings as the birds come to sample the treats.

This recipe stood up well to Spring temperatures, but it would probably not last as a hanging ornament on a humid and hot summer day. If it’s really hot and you still want to try this recipe, just be prepared that they may fall apart, or just set them out on a tray for the birds to come peck at. (And bonus: that’s even a bit easier than making these cookie cutter bird feeders into ornaments.)

There are a few other bird seed ornament recipes available if you want to experiment a bit – Mama Papa Bubba has this unflavored cookie cutter bird seed ornament and Natural Beach Living has this cooked bird seed ornament recipe. And of course, there’s our original Bird Seed Wreath which I just added a how-to video to as well, since people were really confused about what consistency the gelatine was supposed to be at.

Watch our quick video tutorial to show you how to make these easy PB&J Bird Seed Ornaments and then scroll down to grab your free printable recipe:

Ingredients to Make Cookie Cutter Bird Seed Ornaments

• 6teaspoons (1 ounce) gelatine or2 packages flavored gelatine mix
• 1 cup boiling water
• 3 Tablespoons natural peanut butter
• 3-5 cups bird seed

Tip: add as much bird seed as you can without the mixture becoming too crumbly. If this is your first time making this recipe, feel free to do a few all with slightly different consistencies to see which turn out the best.

Kitchen Tools You May Find Helpful

• Large mixing bowl
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Spatula or wooden spoon
• Cookie cutters
• Tinfoil
• Baking tray
• Straws
• Ribbon

How to Make Peanut Butter Bird Seed Ornaments

Boil the water and place in a large bowl.

Add the gelatine and stir to dissolve.

Add in the peanut butter and stir to dissolve.

Then add in the bird seed.

Line a cookie sheet with tinfoil and place several cookie cutters on it.

Scoop the bird seed mixture into the cookie cutters and smoosh down – get as much of the mixture into the cookie cutters as possible.

Use the straws to cut holes for hanging the ornaments as desired. You can leave the straws in the ornaments as they harden.

Place in the fridge to set overnight. (We tried removing and hanging some after 3 hours and they were less solid.)

When the ornaments are dry and hardened, thread some ribbon or string through them and find hanging spots. Try to find places away from windows that are safe and convenient for both the birds and bird watching!

Pin this Cookie Cutter Bird Seed Ornament recipe for later:

And don’t forget to grab your free printable version of our bird seed treat here:

Are your kids excited by the arrival of birds and Spring? This Jell-O Bird Seed Ornament craft is such a fun rainy day activity to make with kids and a great way to facilitate some backyard bird watching.

For more fun bird ideas for kids, check out our collection of 50+ Ideas for a Preschool Bird Studyandour top 10 Nonfiction Bird Books for Kids.

For more fun Spring Montessori Ideas, check out these posts from my fellow Montessori parents:

Easy Flower Science Activities for Preschool and Kindergarten | Natural Beach Living

Montessori-Inspired Skip Counting for Kids {Spring Printables} | The Natural Homeschool

How to Prepare a Montessori-Style Lenten Tray | Living Montessori Now

Montessori Practical Life – Caring for a Plant | Happy Mama’s Hive

Toddler Butterfly Theme for Spring | The Kavanaugh Report

Collection of Color Learning Activities for Preschoolers | The Pinay Homeschooler

Montessori-inspired Plant Activities with Free Printables | Every Star is Different

Montessori Flower Arranging: Practical Life Skills (Free Printable) | Christian Montessori Network

9 Must-try Insect Activities With Free Montessori-inspired Printables| Uno Zwei Tutu

Hands on butterfly themed learning activities | Welcome to Mommyhood