5 Tips for Preparing for a Bird House Installation

I am very excited about my new Bird House project. After visiting a small museum in Vermont, I was inspired to add a Bird House installation in my Outdoor Classrooms Learning Lab Bird Sanctuary. The birdhouses at the museum are all different shapes and sizes which adds to the charm. At the moment, I don’t have the time to create individual birdhouses from scratch; therefore, I purchased ready-made birdhouses from AC Moore. I think they will do the trick! Here are 5 Tips for preparing for a Bird House Installation.

TIP #1: Decide if you want to make birdhouses or purchase ready-made birdhouses. If you purchase birdhouses from an art store you want to make sure you get the correct kind. There are 2 different types. There will be lot’s of fun birdhouses with thinner wood. These are for indoor use. Make sure you choose the birdhouses that are made with thicker wood. These birdhouses will withstand the outdoor elements longer. Easy peasy!

TIP #2: Gather Acrylic paint, paint brushes, and water. Set up an area to paint and have fun. Children love this activity. There is no limit to how many birdhouses you add to your bird sanctuary. There is lots of room for creativity here. This is a perfect indoor activity for the winter! It is also fun to do outdoors in the garden during the warmer months.

TIP #3: Collect fallen branches. What makes the installation of these birdhouses extra special are the branches that they are attached to. Keep an eye out for some good size branches that may fall during a storm. They are perfect for this project. Note: A fun extension activity is to identify which branch belongs to which tree.

TIP#4: Make the branch work for you. Turn your branch into a piece of art. We needed to cut the ends of our branch off to make sure we created a level surface for the birdhouse to sit on. Having a contraption to hold it all together is a bonus when working with kids. Sawing is very empowering for children so don’t shy away from letting them have a go.

Tip #5: Check to see what your installation will look like. Lay out all the branches on the ground. Place each of birdhouse on top of each branch and see if you like what you see. If you don’t you can make adjustments. For example, I don’t like how much shorter two of my branches are making my birdhouses appear. I think I will look for 2 longer branches. It is nice to have different heights and alternate the types of birdhouses, but I would like mine to be a bit closer together in height.