#5 Eco kids craft - How-to make a bird's nest

This project is one of my favorites. It was inspired by a poem - a Bird’s Nest, written by the Israeli national author Hayyim Nahman Bialik. This could be a fabulous project to celebrate spring.

In the process of deciding how to make a nest Zoe and I were trying to think of the nature of building one. We have decided that just like the birds we needed to make our nest from bits and pieces of materials we have gathered about. Materials such as lint, leaves, rags, strings etc. And so we did.

Nests are incredible Eco structures. There is a very nice collection of nests at the Harvard Natural History Museum, in Cambridge MA. If you are in the area you should pay a visit. Its right next to the MUST SEE glass flowers exhibit.

This project has 2 parts, the first is making the nest and the second is decorating the eggs to fit within the nest. The nest takes a couple of days to dry depending on the weather, so plan accordingly.
WARNING: This is a messy project, but it is a mess well worth cleaning

Part one:
MAKING THE NEST

You will need:
Gather bits and pieces of material that is around you such as: old t shirts (ripped into strings), leaves, Small branches, lint (could be some from the drier), strings, left over yarn, etc.
1 Balloon per nest
1 Bowl per nest
Scissors
Newspaper to protect your working area
Craft glue (white glue)

Note: you may use cornstarch glue instead of the craft glue, it is Eco friendly and biodegrade. I have never used it before therefore I cannot tell you much more about it but send you to this link.

How to:

Start by covering your work area
Collect all your bits and pieces for the nest.

Blow the balloon, and place it in the bowl with the knot facing down (the size of the balloon will determine the size of your nest

Pour some glue into a paper cup/ bowl
Start with the longer strings and t shirt strips you have, dip them into the glue and place on the balloon. You may squeeze some of the glue access off the strings but don’t get rid of too much, this project needs a fair amount of glue.

Keep on going around and around layering all the bits and pieces that you have gathered. If you are adding leaves, make sure you are securing them with another layer of strings on top of them.

When you think you are done set aside to dry. This may take a couple of days.
Once it is dry, pop the balloon.

Part 2:
DECORATING THE EGGS

You will need:
Fresh Eggs
Embroidery Needle
Markers, acrylics (use your preferred medium)

How to:
Empty the eggs first by pocking two holes one at each end of the egg. One hole should be no bigger than a needle’s head, and the other hole can be slightly bigger.

Blow air into the egg through the smaller hole, make sure you have a bowl under the egg, the content off the egg will come out, I promise.
Rinse the eggs, set aside to dry
Decorate the eggs