If you fancy yourself as a DIYer, then you know how satisfying it can be. You get to work on and finish tasks that can help with the overall aesthetics and functionality of your home. Best of all, if done right, you can save a lot of money because you don’t have to hire someone to do it. It’s even more satisfying if you get your kids involved. Yes, there are repair projects to do with kids.
In addition to getting an “assistant” to help you out, you’ll be teaching your kids some valuable life lessons like responsibility, caution, trust among co-workers, and many more. Who knows? They may grow up as a DIYer like you! Needless to say there are obviously repair jobs you should not do with them, where it may even be better to get a professional contractor to help you out.
Some Tips before You Get Started
Make sure that you follow these tips to ensure the safety of your kids:
- Protect them.
It can be something as simple as ensuring that they wear gloves, goggles and other safety tools as needed.
- Keep it short and simple.
You can’t expect kids to work on a project for more than an hour so keep their involvement short. Of course, keep it simple so they don’t have to use complicated tools and so that the tasks can be easily comprehended.
- Provide guidance all the way.
Provide clear and easy-to-understand instructions before you get started. While doing the tasks, make sure that you guide them to make sure that they’re doing things safely and correctly.
Here are Some Kid-friendly Projects
Have a lot of fun and productive time with these repair projects you can do with your kids:
- Repainting your mailbox.
The mailbox, while small, plays a very important role in your home’s curb appeal. There’s a good chance that it’s looking old and rusty right now. You can inject some life back into it by repainting it and that’s something that you can do with your kids!
Make sure that you unmount it first and give it a little bit of cleaning. If you want your kids to have a little bit more fun, consider adding some design to the mailbox.
- Oil the hinges.
Squeaky doors can be annoying. Take that annoyance out with the help of your kids. Arm them with oil or WD40, show them how it’s done, and let them finish the job! Make sure to show them the result and tell them that they did an amazing job of taking care of the squeaking!
- Tighten screws.
Screws are used everywhere in the house and they can get loose. This can lead to loose towel racks, bars, handles and the likes. Solving this issue is as simple as turning a screwdriver to the right, which means that it’s something a kid can do.
Teach the phrase, “”righty-tighty, lefty-loosey“. That’s a life lesson right there that’s easy to remember.
- Perform minor paint jobs on the wall.
Your wall may have little nail holes and scuff marks that are getting more and more noticeable by the day. A simple paint job will do the trick. Dabbing the damaged areas with paint of the same color is all it takes. It will only take you a couple of minutes, so might as well teach your kids how to do it.
If they’re old enough, they can do more major paint jobs like helping you paint the whole room. They can start with just doing the undercoat.
- Clean the drains in your home.
Now before the violent reaction, this is only applicable if you’re going to have them use natural cleaning materials. It’s not a good idea for them to handle harsh chemicals, after all.
You just need a mixture of a cup of baking soda, half a cup of salt and a quarter of cream of tartar. Mix it will and then store in resealable containers.
To clean drains, pour a quarter cup of this mixture followed by 2 cups of boiling water. Let it stand for at least half an hour; an hour max. Turn on the tap to flush the drain.
- Fix broken chair legs.
Don’t throw that chair with broken legs just yet. You can fix it with some polyurethane glue. With your guidance, it’s something that your kids can do as well.
Another task for this job that your kids can do is to wrap heavy duty duct tape around the newly-glued area to make sure that it stays in place while the glue dries.
- Fix the squeaky floor.
In a lot of cases, all it takes is a sprinkle of talcum powder over the area that’s making the squeaking noise. Sweep the talcum powder into the cracks and that will do the trick in a lot of cases.
Obviously, this is something that your kids can do. Just make sure to point at the area where they’re supposed to sprinkle the talcum powder and provide direction as to how they should sweep the floor.
Make them an All Around Assistant
You can also ask for their help even if it’s a more major DIY repair task. Provided that you’ll be working in a safe and secure environment, your kids can provide assistance. It can be something as simple as handing you the tools that you need. Of course, this requires that they know what the tools are and what they’re used for. It’s something that you should teach kids anyway. Your kids can help from the start of the project all the way to the clean-up at the end!
As an assistant, they should practice. They can practice hammering on bubble wrap using a hammer that’s designed for kids. You can also teach older kids to use a cordless drill and they can screw into drywall. Older kids can also practice sawing on a foam board. Including them in such projects could even help bring out their creative side.
It’s all about starting small and progressing from there. Just make sure that you’re there to guide them every step of the way. They’ll have a lot of questions so make sure that you know how to answer them! Of course, the best way is to show them! Including them in such activities in an encouraging way may even help boost their self-esteem.
