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I have a 2.5 year old that I'd like to do more DIY stuff with. He really likes to 'help', and my wife and I are trying to train him up to be independent and productive early, figuring that it's easier to start now. Obviously at his current age we're pretty limited in what we can do, but I figure goons will have some ideas. We already sometimes let him help with simple things like starting screws, stirring pots and cutting veggies*, and we've gone to the adventure park in Berkeley. What other DIY things do people do with their kids? The more independent the kid can be in the activity the better, but I'm open to hearing anything. * with extremely hands-on supervision of course
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Apr 30, 2014 02:45
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Cicero posted:I have a 2.5 year old that I'd like to do more DIY stuff with. He really likes to 'help', and my wife and I are trying to train him up to be independent and productive early, figuring that it's easier to start now. Obviously at his current age we're pretty limited in what we can do, but I figure goons will have some ideas. When I was younger my dad taught me a bit about electronics and logic by building out a simple train set with signals. At the time I took away that you could complete a circuit with the axles of Lionel trains. Using relays at the time we built out a simple blocking system like "if the train is in block b, the signal before block b is red." You could do something like that infinitely easier with all of the embedded stuff that is accessible, but that requires programming and isn't really a hands on activity anymore.
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Apr 30, 2014 06:36
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I spent (what feels like) a lot of time in my childhood helping my parents out with gardening. Get them a little trowel or whatever and plant seedlings or something? Also helping my father fix the family cars by basically being the gopher.. to this day I can still more or less recognize the correct size sockets by sight. Is 2 1/2 too young for that?
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Apr 30, 2014 16:14
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I'm not sure exactly what two year old children are capable of, but somewhere about 5ish (I think?) I had my own set of jewelers screwdrivers and I used to get to take apart old toys that I had outgrown. It got me into the way things were made, and I was almost able to build most of them again, after I had wasted a bunch of smaller toys. I'd imagine this could be made into a group activity where you could go buy a dollar store toy and then look at what makes it do stuff. Don't underestimate how rad it is to hold a flashlight as a kid, if you're working on a car or something, even if you don't need light, he can always 'help' by holding a light.
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Apr 30, 2014 19:24
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Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'm actually already planning on gardening, albeit in limited form. I like the idea of showing him how to take apart (and hopefully put back together) toys, hopefully I can try that soon.
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May 5, 2014 18:50
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In addition to the other, more practical suggestions... http://lowesbuildandgrow.com/pages/default.aspx Those little projects at Lowes are pretty cute for kids. It's something simple like driving 4 or 5 nails to build a birdhouse. They are fun (and free)
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May 5, 2014 22:19
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Painting. Anything you don't care about. Or just let him do the primer coat. But don't let him eat the paint!  But the "gopher" suggestion is great, I totally did that in my dad's shop (retrieving tools and supplies teaches the names of those items, and watching someone use them teaches how/why they're used) until I was old enough to be trusted with a hammer and not immediately pulp a finger or hit a window or something. At that point my dad gave me a big ol' hammer, some big-rear end nails, some scraps of 2x4/4x4/etc, and then just left me to sit in the dirt and hammer them together and then pry them apart until the nails were ruined. 2 and a half is pretty young to be wielding tools which can smash or cut or stab though, imho. Probably depends largely on your kid. But they DO make toy toolbelts and poo poo for a reason.. A cousin of mine wanted to be Bob the Builder from as far back as anyone in the family can remember, and almost all the toys he ever got were plastic hammers and saws and stuff until he was old enough to use real ones. Now he's a finish carpenter and owns a contracting company. For starting screws, get a bar of cheap soap and have the kid rub each wood screw in the soap. It lubricates and makes it a ton easier to drive in a good-sized screw. And he'll learn FAST to not eat the soap! 
coyo7e fucked around with this message at 23:13 on May 5, 2014 |
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May 5, 2014 23:09
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I've got a 9 and a 6 year old and I'm having a really hard time finding kid-sized tools for them - you search for "kids tool sets" and all you get are playskool plastic things. I still have the 3/4 scale kids tools *I* had as a kid - little hammer, pliers, screwdriver - but cannot find any of them any more. Also no kid-size saw. I settled on a little flush-cutting saw but it's not really ideal. Any links/advice is welcome.
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May 8, 2014 05:59
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rotor posted:I've got a 9 and a 6 year old and I'm having a really hard time finding kid-sized tools for them - you search for "kids tool sets" and all you get are playskool plastic things. I still have the 3/4 scale kids tools *I* had as a kid - little hammer, pliers, screwdriver - but cannot find any of them any more. Also no kid-size saw. I settled on a little flush-cutting saw but it's not really ideal. You can find "adult" tools that will fit kids. Look for tack hammers and pliers/screwdrivers come in a plethora of sizes. Also a coping saw is pretty easy to use at that age (what I started with).
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May 8, 2014 17:16
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I feel like those "apartment tool boxes" always have teeny tiny tools in them. http://www.amazon.com/Apollo-Precision-DT9706-39-Piece-General/dp/B000E20HWA/
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May 8, 2014 19:27
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Cicero posted:I have a 2.5 year old that I'd like to do more DIY stuff with. He really likes to 'help', and my wife and I are trying to train him up to be independent and productive early, figuring that it's easier to start now. Obviously at his current age we're pretty limited in what we can do, but I figure goons will have some ideas. ^ Canyoneer had the same idea. Take them to Home Depot/Lowe's every Saturday I think at 9am. They have workshops where they have projects specifically designed for kids, like building bird feeders and poo poo. I have two boys (ages 3,4) and I commiserate with you - everytime they come into the garage I have to give them something to do. I let them tool around with my smaller screwdrivers and have set aside miniature multi-tools for when they are a bit older. And of course, when I need them to scram out of the garage for safety reasons, I power on the router which is loving loud as hell.
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May 8, 2014 20:51
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One of my boys thinks he is a mini-me and wants to do everything I do when I'm in the yeard - lawnmowing, chainsawing, using the power tools etc. So now he gets to wear the safety gear when I do work, and I've got to get another set! When I'm tinkering in the garage lately, I've just been getting the ladder out, a bunch of 2x4 cut-offs, and let them muck around with them and some screwdrivers. They make little forts and stuff, and I just have to stop them pretending everything is a drat sword or for smashing. If they want to help or use your tools, teach them about being safe with them and what is ok to use and what's not. If they're with you while you're doing stuff they'll probably want to join in. Having kids is drat handy when you need to carry a bunch of stuff and don't have enough hands though.
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May 9, 2014 01:10
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mortarr posted:Having kids is drat handy when you need to carry a bunch of stuff and don't have enough hands though. My Dad never owned a set of clamps till we were all too old to sit on the boards he was cutting. Nothing more terrifying as a kid than your Dad tossing the circular saw across the yard as he screams "Get in the Car!" to go buy a new one.
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May 9, 2014 03:44
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Boy do kids love ladders.
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May 9, 2014 13:40
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I just made this with my 7 year old. We used a kreg jig, which is really great. I can cut everything out at the table saw and he goes to work drilling holes.
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May 9, 2014 14:19
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A fellow I know threw together a tiny (like really really tiny) lathe out of an electric motor, scissor switch, a nail and some scrap wood. He let his kid turn crayons on it using a toothpick as a tool. It's for a little older child but I thought it was an awesome idea.
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May 11, 2014 05:23
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The junk collector posted:A fellow I know threw together a tiny (like really really tiny) lathe out of an electric motor, scissor switch, a nail and some scrap wood. He let his kid turn crayons on it using a toothpick as a tool. It's for a little older child but I thought it was an awesome idea. hahaha that's rad as hell
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May 11, 2014 05:48
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The junk collector posted:A fellow I know threw together a tiny (like really really tiny) lathe out of an electric motor, scissor switch, a nail and some scrap wood. He let his kid turn crayons on it using a toothpick as a tool. It's for a little older child but I thought it was an awesome idea. Something like this? http://youtu.be/vBcS3iSkhc0?t=2m
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May 11, 2014 14:41
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Suave Fedora posted:^ Canyoneer had the same idea. I totally forgot this was a thing. That poo poo was rad when I was younger, I got to make a birdhouse and some kind of box that I was really proud of for some reason. JEEVES420 posted:My Dad never owned a set of clamps till we were all too old to sit on the boards he was cutting. Nothing more terrifying as a kid than your Dad tossing the circular saw across the yard as he screams "Get in the Car!" to go buy a new one. When I was 10 or so, my dad was redoing part of the house and we needed sheetrock; We did not have a car appropriate for moving sheetrock. We had some Dodge Caravan or something from the early 90s. To compensate for the lack of space in the car we drove it back with the back of the van open with me crouched holding the sides of these four sheets of sheetrock. TL;DR one of the pieces of sheetrock hit the road going like 40. I used to love going to hardware stores, my dad would explain tools to me if he was in a good mood, I learned a lot about tools I probably never would have used otherwise.
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May 11, 2014 18:03
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Sweevo posted:Something like this? loving owns
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May 11, 2014 19:41
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Sweevo posted:Something like this? Lathes were the reason I failed woodwork - I spent all my time making tiny doorknobs and poo poo instead of finishing my projects. That thing is cool as hell.
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May 11, 2014 22:39
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Sweevo posted:Something like this? That little kid and his amish tools blow my skills away. I like the dramatic flourish at the end where he dishes out the rook. "Look upon THAT, fair damsel."
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May 12, 2014 16:41
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Sweevo posted:Something like this? Thats more involved and a bit bigger than what he did. You found a  thing there, kid owns.
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May 13, 2014 04:31
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That kid is pretty disciplined to hand drill all the holes given that he does actually own an electric drill.
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May 13, 2014 13:52
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~Coxy posted:That kid is pretty disciplined to hand drill all the holes given that he does actually own an electric drill. That kid fought all the way from Stalingrad to Berlin. He's a Hero of the Soviet Union. He can handle drilling, in a Stakhanovite spirit of industrial forwardness and other such bolshevik guff.
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May 13, 2014 23:52
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