My initial thought too, and the Mother of the child and his friend seems to be genuinely willing to help (asked how she could fix the problem and swore she would do so somehow).
We shall see how that plays out.
Dry the seeds and help her build a bird house to put them in. This way she gets to see her work pay off with all of the pretty birds that just love her seeds. As for the neighbor kids, plant them head first until their feet are at least three feet under, water weekly, and then plant next year’s watermelon patch over them. You will get some really choice melons this way. (or so I’ve been told!)