Give each student an aluminum pie tin, a plastic butter knife, scissors and yarn. The students will need to cut at least twelve inches of yarn for each of their pine cones.
Fill the bottom of each of aluminum pie tin with a layer of wild bird seed. Large bags of bird seed are available in hardware stores and even some grocery stores. The size of the bird seed bag needed will be completely dependent on the amount of students involved in the project.
Place 1/2 cup of peanut butter in a Dixie cup and offer one cup of peanut butter to each student. There is no specific type or brand of peanut butter that is specifically required to complete the bird feeder project.
Have each student wrap a piece of yarn around each of their pine cones. The yarn should be wrapped firmly around the top section of the pine cone, and then tied in a knot. The yarn will serve as a hook that can be used to hang the pine cone from a tree branch.
Ask each pre-K student to apply peanut butter to the exterior of the pine cones with the plastic butter knife. This is where the project tends to get a bit messy, but the result is usually worth the cleanup that is required afterward.
Have each of the students roll their pine cones around in the bird seed until the peanut butter is covered with the seeds. The peanut butter is sticky enough to adhere to the bird seed and keep it stuck to the pine cone. Have each of the students roll their pine cones around in the bird seed until the peanut butter is covered with the seeds. The peanut butter is sticky enough to adhere to the bird seed and keep it stuck to the pine cone.
Bring the pre-K class outside to hang some of their pine cones in a tree and give each student a paper lunch bag to carry the remainder of the pine cones home. Each student should then clean up their workspace.