Bhg
  • Shop
  • News
  • Food
  • DIY
  • Garden
  • Renovating
  • Decorating
  • Health
  • TV
  • Hard to Find
Bhg
  • Shop
  • News
  • Food
  • DIY
  • Garden
  • Renovating
  • Decorating
  • Health
  • TV
  • Hard to Find
Subscribe
  1. Home
  2. DIY

6 DIY gifts for kids

Create a gift that will make long-lasting memories - by Gavin Kirk
  • 05 Nov 2018
6 DIY gifts for kids

Before you hit up the toy aisle, consider taking the time to craft a special handmade gift for the kids in your life — they'll treasure the memories forever! Here are six DIY gift ideas they'll love.

Puppet theatre

Creating a pop-up puppet theatre for the kids is easy! Just cut a square hole in the centre of a fabric curtain, add any decorations that you love, then hang the curtain from a spring-loaded extendable rod (typically used to hold window coverings or a shower curtain) in a doorway of your home. It's showtime!

How to make your own shop
Cat Muscat

Miniature shop

A little shop front is bound to provide hours of fun for the kids. To make a shop similar to this example, you can repurpose a low chest of solid timber drawers for the base. Just remove the drawers and install timber shelves. Cut a window out of a sheet of plywood and secure to the top of the drawers with brackets. Attach shelves to the back of the window. Apply primer to all surfaces then paint in glossy white water-based paint. You can add a shop name using MDF craft letters painted in any colour you love, affixed to the front of the shop with PVA. Make miniature groceries by wrapping small recycled containers and boxes and then use them to stock the shelves. Don’t forget to provide baskets for shoppers, too!

Hobby horse

Loved by kids for generations, a hobby horse is a terrific gift for your littlies. To make: Start with a timber broom handle, then add a horse head to one end. For this, you might like to stuff a wooden sock with polyfil (decorated with a woollen mane, fabric ears and googly eyes) or attach a timber horse head silhouette, cut out with a jigsaw. To prevent the other end of the stick dragging on the ground, you might like to attach two small wheels, too! Giddy up.

Racing car

Racing car track

For the car-obsessed kids in your life, consider creating a miniature toy-car racetrack in a patch of your backyard lawn. Just like the bike paths at your local park — but smaller scale! Use a shovel to dig out the design of shallow, narrow roads, then fill the road trenches with quick-set concrete. Let dry. Paint roads black with paving paint, let dry, and then add road lines with white exterior paint and a fine paintbrush.

Playhouse

An outdoor cubby is one of those places kids just love to play and unleash their imagination! If you're handy on the tools, you can make a custom playhouse from scratch. But an easy option is to buy a flat-pack cubby kit that you can assemble. Typically made from western red cedar, you might like to paint the cubby in playful colours or to match the main house. Add pot plants by the front door, a window planter under each window and perhaps an edible fruit and vegie garden nearby.

Miniworkshop

Mini workshop

Is your little one crazy for DIY? Knock them together a timber-framed workbench to store all their toy tools. Add pegboard at the back to hang supplies and plastic caddies underneath to hold materials and other tools.

  • DIY
  • Kids Craft
Gavin Kirk
Gavin Kirk

Treat yourself to a subscription-Save up to 25%

Plus, your chance to win

Subscribe Now
Treat yourself to a subscription

Treat yourself to a subscription-Save up to 25%

Plus, your chance to win

Subscribe Now
Treat yourself to a subscription

Recommended to you

YOU’LL NEED A WEDGE TO HANG THAT DOOR
Watch 6:32

YOU’LL NEED A WEDGE TO HANG THAT DOOR

{headline}

{headline}

How to make bath salts and lip balm

How to make bath salts and lip balm

How to make your own timber dinosaur

How to make your own timber dinosaur

How to make a Christmas cubby

How to make a Christmas cubby

Build a 'mini-me' workbench for your kids

Build a 'mini-me' workbench for your kids

{headline}

{headline}

Adam builds a kids’ activity course

Adam builds a kids’ activity course

School holiday projects for kids

School holiday projects for kids

How to make over an old chest of drawers

How to make over an old chest of drawers

{headline}

{headline}

How to dye wooden beads

How to dye wooden beads

Adam meets Andrew Belic and makes timber and resin pieces

Adam meets Andrew Belic and makes timber and resin pieces

How one mum made an epic home playground for her son for $350

How one mum made an epic home playground for her son for $350

How to make a kids’ café

How to make a kids’ café

How to make a tabletop hockey board

How to make a tabletop hockey board

How one mum made her son a cubby house bed for under $400

How one mum made her son a cubby house bed for under $400

How to make air dry clay flowers

How to make air dry clay flowers

Bhg
  • About Us
  • Subscribe Today
  • Contact Us
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
Bhg Magazine Subscribe
  • About Us
  • Subscribe Today
  • Contact Us
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

Brands

  • All Recipes
  • BHG Shop
  • Girlfriend
  • Home Beautiful
  • New Idea
  • New Idea Food
  • Practical Parenting

Our Network

  • marie claire
  • Beauty Crew
  • Who
  • Women's Weekly Food
  • Bounty Parents
  • That’s Life
  • Perth Now
  • The West Australian
  • 7Plus
  • 7mate
  • 7NEWS
  • 7Sport
  • Sunrise
  • Starts at 60
  • Hard to Find
© 2022 Are Media PTY LTD
All products are independently selected, tested or recommended by our team of experts.If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Get more from Better Homes and Gardens

Magazine Subscription Offer

Treat yourself to a subscription-Save up to 25%

Shop This Offer
Treat yourself to a subscription