Thread: Help with Kids activities in the shed

I would just let them go wild. If you try and give them a project you may end up doing 90% of the work for them. They will be able to create something.

How about some bandsawn toy cars, cut out some wheels to screw on etc. They can sand them and rub them down, help them screw on the wheels and send em off to play

Ian

Dont forget anything that can be switched on can turn into some thing lethal and kids usually try everything. Dont discourage your little people, I usually let my grandson get involved in some way which keeps us all happy. Have great day Pop


Regards Mike.

Thanks guys - it all helps - must keep the kids happy.
Aussieglen

Hi Aussie Glen, I too wonder about this with my step-girls. The youngest rummaged through my offcuts, found three bits and put them together to make little signposts. A flat piece for the bottom, a longer, thicker piece for the post and another flat piece forthe sign.

The bottom is screwed to the post, the sign screwed to the post.
(ignore the dots, they are just place holders)
______
|____|
....|
....|
....|
--------

This is a very basic line drawing, sorry.
It's quick, it's fun and Jess has had the best time making them, from finding the wood, putting it together, marking with the pencil, learning to use the drill (under tight supervision) and finishing the sign. She's made about 7 of them so far:eek:

Cheers and hope you all have a wonderful time.
Cheers
Wendy

If it's their first time, I'd just prepare 2 things for them to complete. Reall easy stuff like gluing wheels on or sanding, so they had something that mum and dad will like the look of.

Once they have that out of the way, give them each a bag of small offcuts and some glue, and let them at it. They will enjoy this more than anything else you can do. If they display good co-ordination, you could introduce a hammer or small handsaw under direct supervision. Mum won't want to see any scratches or bruises on her darlings...

Unplug and switch off every powertool, and move everything sharp out of harms way. Let them 'find' pencils, rulers, squares, and any other relatively safe handtools.

woodbe.

Boats are good: no moving parts required, and keeps them busy shaping with rasps, etc. Also, dowel makes good masts, guns, etc.

Another one I did once with a group of boys was to make a mobile phone: draw on some numbers, bit of dowel for the antenna, could add a hinge to make a flip phone.

A biplane, coaster or little box can be made from pop-sticks.

Drill a hole in the end of a ruler (or similar bit of wood), and attache a string. Whirl it around your head to make a bullroarer.

Kites are always popular.

A flat piece of wood can be glued to a round piece with a hole in the middle. Then you put an inflated balloon over the round piece, the air escapes under the flat piece making a hoverdraft (use only on a smooth surface).

If you've got a bit and brace, or an eggbeater drill, the boys will love drilling holes.

Hammer many nails into a piece of black-painted wood, and use coloured thread to make patterns, as per pic.

They'll love using a spokeshave to shape a wooden sword. Could make it a sweeping curve, like a scimitar or japanese sword.

A trebuchet would be a longer-term project.

Name plates for bedroom doors are good. They can cut the timber to length, you rout a shape around it. They sand it and drill some holes so it can be screwed to their door, then they paint their name on it.

Simple (flat board), lotsa fun, some mess, and a nice keepsake.

Get mum and dad to agree to putting them on the doors first to save tears later - DAMHIKT.

A trebuchet would be a longer-term project.

But a heap of fun for young and old

This is the one we built for one of my boy's school project. They had to built a machine no bigger than an A4 piece of paper that would hurl an egg as far as possible. We got some plans of the net and scaled / beefed them up a bit. Used a bit of Tassie Bluegum, strongest wood I had laying around. Original used 1kg of wet gravel as a counterweight, that worked, would fling small things a few meters. But as it was 'built to last' we upgraded to a 3.5kg power transformer as weight.
It could then throw a golf ball 12 meters
With a bit of tuning I think they got small water balloons to fly 18m.
Start small, these things pack a whallop, you dont want your knuckles to meet the arm as it fires.

Cheers

Ian

Thanks everyone for your ideas - some of which were really fantastic. The kids had fun on the day and after making a couple of games and animals we adjourned to the nearby park for an energetic game of backyard soccer. My 70 yrs was very evident when we chased the ball :eek: but the kids enjoyed themselves which was what it was all about.
Aussieglen