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Family Weekend Project: How to Make a Bird Bath

With the cooler weather we are enjoying spending a whole lot more time outdoors as a family. Which is a good thing because our garden really needs some attention! We recently spent some time revamping the fairy garden (which I will share next week) and one thing we wanted to add to the space was a bird bath. So we decided to make one ourselves from a terracotta pot. This was the perfect family project to involve my kindergartener in – quick and easy to complete, purposeful and pretty.

And here’s how we did it…

FAMILY WEEKEND PROJECT Build a Bird Bath

You will need:

  • One terracotta pot – ours is glazed and was on special for under $10 at our local hardware store
  • One terracotta pot base – slightly larger than your pot
  • Coloured fairy stones in the colours of your choice
  • Adhesive (not shown) – you’ll need a rubber cement style adhesive that is waterproof. Ask at your hardware store.

FAMILY WEEKEND PROJECT Make a Bird Bath

To make:

Decide on your design (or take a chance and go completely free form) and glue your stones into place on the inside of the pot base. We chose to glue our stones in alternating circles of contrasting blue. Except for the outer circle which has an alternating light blue/dark blue pattern.

I squeezed a spot of glue onto the pot base and then Immy pushed the stone into position.

FAMILY WEEKEND PROJECT How to Build a Bird Bath

Finally, upend your pot and glue your planter base onto it. Leave to dry according to the directions for your adhesive. Then add a little water and place into your garden. Remember to give your bird bath a hose out and refill regularly.

FAMILY WEEKEND PROJECT Build a Bird Bath from a Terracotta Pot

Do you involve your children in the garden? What sorts of chores or projects do they help out with?

Related Posts

  • Literacy Learning Outdoors
  • Growing
  • Learning About Weather in Your Own Backyard
  • Making the Most of Your Visit to the Playground

Christie Burnett is a teacher, presenter, writer and the mother of two. She created Childhood 101 as a place for teachers and parents to access engaging, high quality learning ideas.

Filed Under: Family Time, Outdoor Spaces Tagged With: gardening with children

Previous post: Do You Have a Busy Bub?
Next post: Learning from Nature: Amongst Living Things

Read the comments or scroll down to add your own:

  1. Donna W says

    April 19, 2013 at 7:17 AM

    I love this idea! Do you find you get a lot of mosquitos?
    • Christie Burnett says

      April 20, 2013 at 7:41 PM

      Hi Donna, thank you for your comment. The pot base is quite shallow and we just add a little water at a time, refreshing it really regularly with the hose so we haven't had any problems with mosquitoes so far.
  2. Jode@mummymusingsandmayhem says

    April 21, 2013 at 12:03 PM

    I love this Christie...I have been wanting one in the garden for awhile but was trying to think how I could make it unique...this is perfect. I'd love to incorporate it into my backyard family day care space but do you think it would be classed as a water hazard? Your colours are beautiful...what a fun family project, my girls have been helping me with the seed planting and weeding lately.
    • Christie Burnett says

      April 29, 2013 at 9:22 PM

      I am not sure what the rules are with regards to water hazards, Jode. We literally put less than a centimetres water in the bath, refilling it with the watering can every day or so.
  3. Sara says

    April 24, 2013 at 10:37 PM

    I wonder can you use hot glue instead of the rubber cement?
    • Christie Burnett says

      April 29, 2013 at 9:14 PM

      I am not sure how hot glue would go, Sara, given the porous nature of the terracotta.
  4. veena says

    April 27, 2013 at 1:58 PM

    Awesome idea.... we live in an apartment but I stil want to try this.
    • Christie Burnett says

      April 29, 2013 at 7:59 PM

      I think this could also work well on a balcony or verandah, Veena.
  5. Nancy says

    April 29, 2013 at 1:12 AM

    I'm excited to see your fairy garden!
  6. Barbara says

    April 29, 2013 at 10:45 AM

    LOVE this!! Can you tell me if you attached the base to the terracotta pot? I could see my preschoolers wanting to lift the base off. I've also seen one that had 3 pots. The bottom one upside down, the next one on top of it right-side up, the top one upside down, and then the base.
    • Christie Burnett says

      April 29, 2013 at 7:58 PM

      We did glue the base to the pot, yes :)
  7. Katherine Collmer says

    April 30, 2013 at 4:13 AM

    This is such a creative way to get children interested in the garden! It is something that they can be proud of as they watch the birds in it! Thanks for sharing. Will do the same:)
  8. Cecile says

    August 18, 2016 at 6:36 PM

    You think E6000 adhesive would work?
  9. Jan says

    May 21, 2018 at 10:46 PM

    Can you us a plastic saucer in lies of the terra cotta?

Trackbacks

  1. Earth Day Every Day - Carrots Are Orange says:
    April 24, 2013 at 8:09 PM
    [...] pot and loads of paint. I let them at it, decorating (with their bodies mostly) the pot for our bird bath project inspired by Childhood [...]
  2. Cool Sites – October 8, 2014 | Home Educators Association of Virginia says:
    October 8, 2014 at 5:14 PM
    […] https://childhood101.com/2013/04/family-weekend-project-how-to-make-a-bird-bath […]
  3. Labor Day Weekend Projects | Crystal Valley Blog | Crystal Valley says:
    August 21, 2018 at 7:26 PM
    […] spend the long weekend white-washing garage sale finds – reupholstering an old office chair, or making a simple birdbath, but if none of these ideas do it for you, we have one […]
  4. Labor Day Weekend Projects | Crystal Valley Blog | Crystal Valley says:
    August 21, 2018 at 9:31 PM
    […] spend the long weekend white-washing garage sale finds – reupholstering an old office chair, or making a simple birdbath, but if none of these ideas appeal to you, we have one […]
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