Kid-Friendly DIY Projects You Can Do Together This Summer

This Old House Magazine


A sandbox brings a little bit of the beach into your backyard, and playtime is even more fun when the box itself has an imaginative shape. Kids can "drive" at the playground for hours of fun in this red car. It even has special storage under the hood for when you're ready to make a pit stop. For the full step-by-step project, see How to Build a Sandbox at thisoldhouse.com

And, here are a few more fun, do-it-yourself projects you can do with the kids this weekend.

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One of the best ways to encourage your children's budding creativity is to give them a place to practice their talents. This sturdy, portable artist's easel is compact but holds colorful paints, brushes, pencils, markers, and more. And since it has two sides, your kids can enjoy drawing and painting with friends and siblings. See How to Build an Easel for full step-by-step instructions.


A backyard fort is the perfect place to let kids' imaginations run wild. They can create a magical world of knights and dragons or pirates and buried treasure-or just a kid-run kingdom. The design of this fort encourages tons of fun, with a super-cool kid-sized hatch-complete with a peephole to check out visitors-and a flag that kids can design and make themselves. See How to Build a Fort for full step-by-step instructions.


When the sun is hot and kids are bored, there's nothing better to get them motivated than a project that comes with a built-in reward. This old-fashioned lemonade stand is sure to spark some creative interest, along with a bit of entrepreneurial spirit. Here's How to Build a Lemonade Stand.

If your little builders inherited the DIY gene, then they're more or less programmed to dive into Mom and Dad's tools. So maybe you should think about giving the handy helpers their own set-the better to get them involved while keeping your precious collection from getting trashed. For full step-by-step instructions, see How to Build a Toolbox.

SEE OUR FULL ARCHIVE OF OUR FAMILY PROJECTS AT THISOLDHOUSE.COM

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