Tot Explorations: Create a Bird Village with Gingerbread Houses

This year’s gingerbread village (yes, an entire village!) came from a boxed kit I’d found on clearance two Christmases ago (incidentally, it’s best time to buy Gingerbread House kits – you know nobody ever eats them! I already got ours for next year for a few dollars!).

What to do with all those gingerbread houses my husband and son so lovingly created? The ones that made me laugh to see sprinkles and gumdrops frozen into frosting, hardened across our entire counter when I got home from shopping. (Hubby vows never to tackle such a messy holiday task again!).

After taking up counter space for two weeks, hubby came up with a better plan. My son received the niftiest helicopter birdhouse/feeder for Christmas, which we needed to hang. So… we decided it would “fly” over the Gingerbread Village and become a village for the songbirds!

With excitement at a peak, our toddler ran back and forth as I tried to smother him in hats, gloves, snowsuit and coat. Then myself and the baby underneath the Ergobaby babywearing coat – so warm!

We headed out of doors to crunch snow loud in the morning air. The ground stone-frozen when I tried to drive the plant hanger hook into the sunny patch our child selected for the bird commune we were creating.

At last it held. Then the houses. Each one placed “just so” by tiny hands, careful to wipe the snow away when it came up over the edges of the candied dwellings.

I clumsily let birdseed slither into the feed holder, and some hailed down upon the newly established houses. He kept asking, “Where the birds are?”

We stood back to admire our work. Waved to our shadows. Discovered deer tracks, and Daddy’s too. Then followed our own tracks back into the warmth of home.

Now we await the arrival of songbirds in the front yard. We hope they are grateful. And that the squirrels don’t get the treats first!

Do you have any “post-Christmas” projects you do to use up leftover candies, decor, what-have-you? I’d love to hear about it!