Introduce kids to woodworking by challenging them to create these whimsical steampunk wooden robots – from wood, screws and metal scraps! There is a certain appeal to a pile of loose hardware, wouldn’t you say? All those nuts, bolts and little metal scraps...
Build a simple articulated wooden robot! It is a great engineering project to teach kids how articulation works and a perfect woodworking project for beginners. My kids have a lot of toys. When I’ve just tripped over one, I tend to think they have too...
These handmade tree house blocks open new opportunities for block play, allowing children to create natural-looking constructions and multi-levelled tree houses for fairies and forest creatures to settle in. My son loves building, so our collection of building toys...
Fairies are delicate creatures, right? Not this time. Our peg doll fairies are made from hardwood so that they can withstand rough toddler’s play! We like wooden toys. When our kids were in their toy-gnawing stage, wood seemed a better bet than painted or...
When our latest project, a cardboard castle, was nearing completion, we realized that we didn’t have anyone to settle it. That would never do, so out came the wooden peg dolls, paints and felt. In no time, we had wooden peg doll knights, kings and queens in the...
Inspired by the Montessori colour tablets, we decided to make our own gradient blocks. At first, I thought that they’d be a sturdier version of paint samples for creating a handmade gradient puzzle, but they actually turned out to be a very open-ended toy! This...
For our son’s first birthday, we built him a toy wooden barn. Since then, it has gone through extensive play testing – indoors and outdoors, on both sides of the country. So we figured it’s high time we showed it and offered some...
Boats hold a special romantic appeal, for kids as well as grown-ups. Add to this a little scientific experiment, and we have a winner – a balloon-powered boat! In this post, you’ll find a tutorial on how we made one. If you want to get one quickly, you can...
Looking for a toy project that a kid can make, then give to a sibling or a friend as gift? Or the first woodworking project to make with dad? Here is our idea on how to make a simple wooden toy boat from a scrap of wood. This post contains Amazon affiliate links for...
There are certain themes that seem inevitably popular among kids: dinosaurs, robots, and construction vehicles get a pretty universal love from the young generation. Boys are known for their adoration of vehicles, but there are plenty of girls who cannot walk past a...
What kid doesn’t like making noise? Throw a few old instruments their way and and you will soon have something approximating music! If your instruments haven’t done anything to deserve being passed off on a toddler, or if you just don’t have any,...
Do you want to make a wood robot toy? Or maybe looking for the first woodworking project for kids? Try this one! One morning, while our son was still sleeping, a surprise guest climbed onto his windowsill… “Wake up, Buddy! Look who’s here!” The...
After a long and snowy winter, our backyard looked desolate, but we didn’t feel discouraged. Instead, we embraced the chance to give it a makeover. In no time, dreaming and planning was in full swing. “Here we’ll put a sandbox, and there’ll be...
Since our son’s birth, we have developed a fondness for handmade wooden toys: they seem so sturdy and reliable, looking as if they were coming straight from a loving grandpa’s workshop. Untreated wood smells and feels pleasant, but it also provides a nice...
Wooden building blocks are a classic toy for open-ended play. So I try not to be too hard on myself for picking up yet another set for my kid whenever I see a good deal at a second-hand toy store or dollar store. When I have a pretty good assortment, I can turn them...
Trains are a going concern around our house, of late. A complicated network of wooden tracks crisscrosses our living room, so that safe navigation from one end to the other looks something like a game of hopscotch. Ensconced in the centre of this empire is a happy...
