I am a preschool teacher and we planned on making pine cone bird feeders with the class next week, but then today we realized that the project requires the use of peanut butter to attach the birdseed to the pine cones. One child in class is allergic to peanuts, not severe, but we still keep anything with peanuts away from him. My question is-- Is there anything else we can use for this project to make the birdseed stick to the pine cone other than peanut butter? TIA

By Paulas on Wednesday, January 18, 2006 - 10:20 pm:

Try honey

By Kate on Wednesday, January 18, 2006 - 10:49 pm:

Our class used cream cheese.

By Nicki on Thursday, January 19, 2006 - 04:02 am:

Lara and I made one at a nearby nature center, and they used margarine.

By Colette on Thursday, January 19, 2006 - 05:58 am:

soy butter? lard?

By Colette on Thursday, January 19, 2006 - 06:44 am:

Your best bet is some kind of fat - birds need it for the winter to stay warm (that's one of the reasons suet is so popular).

By Unschoolmom on Thursday, January 19, 2006 - 07:42 am:

I've heard peanut butter isn't a great choice anyhow. You might be able to get suet at a place where they sell birdfeed. We use bacon fat. If we have bacon we just pour off the fat into an empty tune can and stick it into the freezer for future use. Lard might be a good choice too.

By Tunnia on Thursday, January 19, 2006 - 08:08 am:

Thanks for all the wonderful ideas! You ladies are great! I'm so glad to hear that there are other options for this project.

By Trina~moderator on Thursday, January 19, 2006 - 09:27 am:

As a parent with two nut allergic kids... THANK YOU, THANK YOU for your efforts to find a peanut butter substitution! We certainly don't expect people to bend over backwards to make accomodations but efforts like this are greatly appreciated!

By Imamommyx4 on Thursday, January 19, 2006 - 01:15 pm:

A friend of mine has a dd with a nut allergy. Her dh brought home a can of mixed nuts that were a gift. He ate some nuts, drank some water from a glass. Then dd walked up and took a sip from his glass and a few minutes later she was breaking out in hives.

I always use lard or Crisco solid when I do the pine cone thing with a group of kids. Sometimes at home with my own kids I use the peanut butter but I know none of us have a nut allergy. I didn't use to think that handling it would make any big deal, but I am a believer now. Don't risk any contact.

By Heaventree on Thursday, January 19, 2006 - 02:08 pm:

There is a soya based peanut butter on the market.

Trina have you heard of this?

By Trina~moderator on Thursday, January 19, 2006 - 04:02 pm:

Although we've yet to try it, another mom recently told me that Trader Joe's carries soy nut butter.