An Egg Hunt for your Feathered Friends

Project Discipline: Arts & Crafts, Service Project
​Ages: All ages
Difficulty level:​ Easy
Supplies: Birdseed, gelatin or pectin, plastic eggs, nonstick spray  (alternate recipe option includes water, flour and corn syrup in replace for pectin/gelatin)

We often think of service projects for other community members, but what about the birds? 

Let's have some fun, make some bird seed "easter eggs" for birds in our neighborhood to have fun finding.  We can have fun watching them too.  ADF&G has some good resources about Alaska's Backyard birds, in case you need help identifying who the lucky birds are who find the treats you make them!

Let's Get Started!

Photo courtesy of redeemyourground.com

We investigated many recipes for this project, and here's what we found worked:

Step 1: Gather your supplies! You'll need 2 cups of bird seed, 1/3 cup plus 2 Tablespoons water and 1 packet of pectin.  

Step 2: Mix your packet of pectin with 1/3 cup boiling water.  Add 2 Tablespoons cold water and then mix in the birdseed.  Not sure what the cold water was for, but that's what we did. 

Step 3:  Spray plastic easter eggs with non stick spray of some kind. 

Step 4: Spoon mixture into eggs, packing as you go.  We filled 6 easter eggs, and used remaining to fill some old baskets used for egg dying last year.  You could probably make at least a dozen eggs, but we didn't have that many. 

Step 5:  Once your containers are filled, stick them in the fridge for a few hours to set.  Then take them out and set somewhere at room temperature for an extended period of time.  Some directions we referenced said to let sit for a few days, but we couldn't wait that long.  We tried opening them up a couple hours later, and they were holding together quite nicely!

Step 6: Have a parent help you tie some string around them, once they're set, and then hang around your yard for the birds to find!  

Snap a photo of your "eggs" or of the birds you see enjoying them, and be sure to share on Alaska 4-H Facebook page!

​Happy Egg Hiding!