DIY Bird’s Nest

So this  DIY  Bird’s Nest  has a story.

Practicing an act of kindness.

While playing in the garden one evening, my son Ruhaan, accidentally tossed a ball into the tree knocking over a nest.

The days to follow were emotional. He was fraught. He was the perpetrator of the separation between mother and chicks.
He adopted the little chicks and named them Ceaser and Cuddles, and took it upon his tiny being to unite them with their bereaved mother. Amidst the desperately genuine attempts to care for them and protect them from the outside cold, one earnest desire was to duplicate the nest that once was. He hoped that if he placed it in the trees and put the chicks back in, the mother bird would come to feed again.

So with little help from mommy, he embarked as the architect of a stunningly realistic  DIY Bird’s Nest!

Things You Will Need For The DIY Bird’s Nest

• A medium sized balloon
• Paper strips (art paper, newspaper)
• Jute string
• Decorative add ons (decorative grass, stings,ribbon)
• Scissors
• Strong glue
• Thick brush
  

  All strips and pieces from around the house.

Steps To Diy Bird’s Nest

STEP 1.  We first blew up the balloon to a size that we wished our nest to be. We then placed the balloon in another medium sized bowl. Next we diluted glue with a little water and kept it aside.

STEP 2. We took a piece of the jute string and dipped it in the glue. After shaking off the excess with our fingers, we started placing it on the balloon to form the base of our nest. Any direction works fine!

Things are beginning to shape up!

STEP 3.  R kept adding more and more material till the nest started shaping up. The little baby of 20 months joined in too! Other than the occasional drifting towards smearing the glue on the hands and peeling it off (something that was reminiscent of my childhood) it was a fun, fun activity with both the kids.

Artistic Note: We really wanted it to look realistic. A very dear friend got me some dried coconut husk and it was such a gorgeous touch to the nest!

STEP 4. We left the nest to dry overnight. Right before heading out to the bus stop on a school morning,  we punctured the balloon. With squeals of delight we watched the balloon shrink into a little piece of waste and the nest emerged; gorgeous and unbelievable lifelike.

With quick hands, R drew two birds (his version of Cuddles and Ceaser) and gingerly placed them in the nest.

Ahaa!! Our gorgeous DIY Bird’s Nest is ready! For special effects he added two tiny clay balls as eggs!

Euphoria Moment: He proudly carried his story to school and was super excited to have his teacher show it in the school assembly!!

Epilogue To Ruhaan’s Story: We  had salvaged the ‘real’  nest of the birds and placed it back up on the tree while saying desperate prayers for mamma bird to return.  Much against what we thought we knew about abandoned chicks, mamma bird returned to love, care and nurture.  Today, somewhere up in the sky, they all are singing their songs.

I guess this game of love was well played. 

At the cusp of letting go.