Collaborative post
Lockdown in many areas is easing, which thankfully means that if your kids have been mostly stuck inside for the duration, they’ve probably enjoyed getting some of their freedom back in recent weeks.
However, the flipside of all of that home schooling is that if you’ve been more involved with their education and creativity than time would usually allow, they might now be used to completing exciting home-made projects and will miss them during the ‘new normal’.
So if you want to continue bonding with your own budding engineer, architect or artist, here are a few fun projects that you can tackle together over the next few months!
- Build a treehouse
From Huckleberry Finn’s tree fort to the Ewok Village in Return Of The Jedi, treehouses in various incarnations have fascinated kids of all ages for generations, so building a treehouse in your back garden is the perfect project for spring or early summertime.
You’ll need a large tree with a strong trunk and several branches thick and solid enough to support your structure, then you’ll have to work out how to suspend your floor joists, incorporate safety railings and, of course, integrate a ladder or steps to get up and down.
Tip: if you’re struggling to build an ad hoc design, check out this treehouse building guide from the how-to gurus Popular Mechanics.
- Build a Mars Rover
More than 50 years after man first landed on the moon, space travel still fascinates children. And since Mars is the new frontier, what better way to keep your finger on the pulse of the latest STEM developments and earn some intergalactic brownie points than by building a brilliant Mars Rover with your child?
A real Mars Rover would cost billions of pounds obviously, but luckily you can construct one yourself with a few pieces of cardboard, some straws, sticky tape, scissors, a pencil and a ruler. This is a superbly simple yet effective project that’s great for young scientists and there are plenty of videos on YouTube on creating rubber band-powered cars that will guide you every step of the way.
Extra tip: want to learn from the pros? NASA Jet Propulsion Lab have prepared perfect instructions on building a cardboard MARS Rover.
- Build a Pterosaur
Many kids find dinosaurs that roamed the land fascinating, but flying dinos take things to an entirely new level of cool.
So the ideal project for any dino-obsessed kid is probably building a pterosaur. Malleable papier mache is a brilliant material for moulding the head and body and these components can be attached to the cardboard wings and tail with strong glue. The final step is painting the pterosaur in fierce colours.
Extra tip: if your finished pterosaur looks magnificent but has ended up being fairly large and heavy, talk to suspension experts like Ormiston Wire about an affordable rig for hanging it from the ceiling.
Any one of these three fun projects for creative kids will keep them occupied for days, spur them on to further achievements and add an entirely new dimension to your parenting – you’re welcome!
PIN IT FOR LATER
