Some of the most treasured memories are created with handmade gifts. Here are eight projects that you can make for your kids. Psst… You can do the jobs that involve power tools and cutting and then get the kids involved to help you design and decorate.
1. Hot laps
For the kids that love remote control cars, take their racing passion to the next level with a jump, bridge and other racing track obstacles. You can sit down with the kids and sketch up a few ideas or jump online and search for design inspiration, then head to the shed to knock together your creations. Plywood is the ideal material for the framework and for the curved tops – just choose thinner 3mm ply for the top so it’s nice and easy to create curves.
Tips for you:
- The assembly components are cut using a jigsaw and attached together using PVA and screws.
- Decorate the jump, bridge and obstacles using water-based paints in red, white and grey. Exterior-quality house paint is ideal.
- Be creative – you can use a half bike tyre to line the tunnel opening on each side of the bridge.
- Let the competition begin! You can pick up new remote control cars from Supercheap Auto. Find all of the steps you need here.
2. Speed demon
Make a track to race marbles using cardboard, string and coloured card – it’s so simple and provides hours of fun. You can make the towers from cardboard tubes (leftover tube from gift wrap is ideal) and weave the racing track around the towers using more tube or folded coloured cardboard, decorated with string. Just make sure the track starts up high and finishes down low so the marble picks up super speed.
3. All dolled up
Thinking about making a doll’s house? Start by picking up a secondhand solid timber bedside table with three or four drawers, or search for a lowboy chest of drawers – this is the perfect framework for an adorable mini house. With a few modifications and creative decorating, dolly will be moving in to her new abode within no time.
Here’s how to make it:
Remove the drawers and unscrew any hardware. Fill any holes with wood filler. Mark up the position of square windows using a pencil, then drill a hole within the square. Insert a jigsaw and cut out the windows. Lightly sand the timber. Coat with stain blocker, let dry, then coat with durable water-based paint in white. Let dry. If you wish, you can make a painted pitched roof (as pictured) using MDF – just glue and screw into position. To decorate the doll’s house, use a mix of decorative scrapbook paper and vinyl offcuts for wall and floor coverings – use Blu-Tack to hold each piece in place until it’s time to redecorate. Add miniature furniture, dolls and accessories for stacks of playtime fun.
4. Go fish!
A favourite game from way back when, making a fishing pond is so easy. Cut fish shapes from coloured plastic and attach a metal paperclip to each fish. Place the fish in a bowl of shallow water and use a pole with a strong magnet attached to the end of a length of string to ‘catch’ as many fish as you can within a set period of time. Game on!
5. Putting pro
Miniature golf provides hours of fun for all the family. With a dose of imagination, you can create your own little course to practice your putting skills at home using timber offcuts, paint and a roll of artificial turf.
Here’s how to make it:
Sit down with the kids and sketch up an awesome design for your course – the idea is to have a row of numbered openings that you need to putt through, with the golf balls captured at the back by a timber frame. Once you’re happy with your quirky design, it’s off to the shed to cut, glue, screw and paint. Then add numbers above each opening with a permanent marker.
Tips for you:
- To make the arches, mark the shapes on plywood with pencil and cut out shapes with a jigsaw.
- Glue and screw the front assembly first and then measure, cut and attach the back framework.
- Be creative – add tin cans to putt through and even a ramp!
6. Walk the plank…
Set up a pirate’s hideaway in your backyard for hours and hours of fun! You could decorate a cubby house with all kinds of pirate-themed decorations (think skull flags, toy parrots and a treasure chest) or take your lead from this simple idea, using striped sheets to make a simple nook where the kids can play in the shade. Just remember to pick up some pirate hats and eye patches. Arrr… me hearties!
7. Make it magical
Before you collapse those leftover cardboard boxes, think about how you can repurpose them into fun costumes for kids – just like this magical unicorn!
Here’s how to make it:
Using a sharp utility knife, cut the two long faces out of a rectangle-shaped cardboard box. These openings will be the top and bottom of the unicorn body. Using the cardboard remnants, cut a unicorn head with a slot in the neck so that it’s easily attached over the front of the body. Coat the assembly in light pink water-based paint. Let dry. Using a darker pink, paint flowers on the body and cheeks, then add a mouth and nose. Let dry. Use remnants of cardboard to make ears and a unicorn horn, then paint and attach each component with tape. Remember to add an eye with lashes, too. Once the paint is dry, attach pink fabric straps so that the unicorn rests over your child’s shoulders – then add a fabric tail and tinsel trimming. Touch up paint as necessary.
8. Beep beep
A large heavy-duty cardboard box is the ideal framework for a you-beaut car for the kids to play in. Just cut an opening for them to sit in and use the remnants of cardboard to make wheels, a grill, bonnet, headlights, steering wheel and rear vision mirrors.
Tips for you:
- To make wheels, use a sharp utility knife and cut around dinner plates on a self-healing cutting mat.
- A black marker pen is an easy way to add details to wheels and the grill of your car – you can write up a license plate, too.
Attach components together using good-quality double-sided tape.
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