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BUILD. LEARN. BRING BLUEBIRDS HOME
Hands-on educational workshops
Built for Bluebirds offers hands-on educational workshops that bring together woodworking, wildlife education, and the enjoyment of creating something with your own hands.
My Build, Paint & Mount Your Own Bluebird House workshops are designed for adults, families, and children accompanied by an adult. No woodworking experience is necessary. Everything is designed to make the experience easy, educational, and fun. All necessary materials are included. Best of all, participants don't just leave with something they built, they leave knowing why their bluebird house works, where to put it, and how to create a backyard where bluebirds are more likely to visit and nest.
Build Your Own Bluebird House
Each participant starts with a pre-cut cedar bluebird house kit and builds a functional nesting box designed specifically for Eastern Bluebirds. We work through the building process together, step by step, with all the necessary tools and materials provided. Participants can leave the natural beauty of the cedar as is or, when painting is offered, add their own personal touch.
And we don't stop with just the birdhouse. Every participant also receives a birdhouse mounting pole as part of the workshop, so when the workshop is over, you can take your completed bluebird house home, choose the right location, and put it up that very same day! You'll leave with a finished bluebird house, a mounting pole, and the knowledge you need to install it and start welcoming bluebirds to your backyard properly.
It's More Than Building a Birdhouse
One of my favorite parts of these workshops is the education that happens while we're building. We talk about what makes a true bluebird nesting box different from a decorative birdhouse, where and how high it should be mounted, why entrance size matters, when bluebirds begin looking for nesting locations, how to protect eggs and young birds from predators, and what you can do to make your property more attractive to bluebirds.
We also answer one of the questions I hear all the time: “Why don't I have bluebirds in my yard?” Often, it's simply because the yard isn't yet providing the right combination of nesting space, food, water, and habitat.
From a Bluebird House to a Backyard Habitat
A bluebird house can be the beginning of something much bigger. At Built for Bluebirds, my goal has expanded beyond simply providing a place for bluebirds to nest. We want to help homeowners think about their entire backyard as a potential wildlife habitat. A successful backyard habitat can provide the four basic things wildlife needs: food, water, shelter, and places to raise their young.
That might begin with a properly designed bluebird house, but it can also include a feeder and mealworms to attract bluebirds, a clean source of water, native plants and trees, predator protection, and appropriate nesting or roosting areas for other beneficial wildlife. The idea is simple: create a backyard that isn't just beautiful for us but useful to wildlife too.
Continue Building Your Backyard Habitat
The workshop is just the beginning. Built for Bluebirds offers a growing selection of handcrafted products and accessories to help you continue developing your backyard habitat, including Eastern Bluebird nesting boxes, bluebird feeders, mounting poles, predator baffles, bat houses, owl houses, and other backyard wildlife products. Each product is selected or built with the same philosophy behind our workshops: it should serve a real purpose for the wildlife we're trying to attract—not simply look good in the yard. Explore these products throughout the Built for Bluebirds website and choose the pieces that make sense for your backyard.
What Workshop Participants Are Saying
Eileen C from Wrentham
Jim builds lovely, sturdy, easy to clean bird houses. He has a fountain of knowledge about where to put them, how to care for them, what food to set out to attract the birds and all kinds of other information. Emails/text are answered fairly quickly. His workshop was a lot of fun and had people of all ages in the one I attended. People worked at their own pace and he answered questions right along and shared photographs of his past bluebird residents. I took my bird house home from the workshop and ordered another one. I stayed after the workshop and we discussed all the birds I have in my yard. I learned which of those birds are not nice to Bluebirds and how to discourage them (not harm them) from taking over the birdhouse. I HIGHLY recommend both the workshop and birdhouses.
Rosemary
Thank YOU, Jim for giving such a wonderful work shop. It was very rewarding to build the Bluebird house : Mainly because the Eastern Bluebird is so special and having all materials readily accessible. Everything was pre measured and cut, ready to assemble.
The best part was finding out about the Eastern Bluebird, and its specific likes and dislikes. In addition, Jim answered any questions we had about various other birds, and houses that we had.
Ariq from Norfolk
My 11 year old and I made a bluebird house last weekend. It was a program with Norfolk Recreation. The cost was very reasonable. The two-hour session to put the bird house together was very informative and we are excited to host Bluebirds in our backyard. This is a good first step towards hosting wildlife and supporting local species.
Workshops for Communities and Organizations
Built for Bluebirds, educational workshops are available for recreation departments, garden clubs, conservation organizations, libraries, nature centers, schools, summer camps, Scout groups, community organizations, and private groups.
Programs can be adapted for adults, families, or children accompanied by an adult. Group size, workshop length, and materials included can also be adjusted to meet the needs of your organization. Whether you're looking for an adult program, a family activity, or something different for your community, the goal is the same: Build something. Learn something. And take home something that can make a difference for wildlife.
Bring a Bluebird Workshop to Your Community
Interested in hosting a Built for Bluebirds educational workshop? I'd be happy to talk with you about your organization, audience, group size, and the type of program you'd like to offer. Let's help more people discover the enjoyment of bringing bluebirds—and more wildlife—into their own backyards.