Family Handyman Tips: Projects for Parents and Kids
It is challenging to find things to occupy your tots. They are bundles of joy full of life and energy, but they are also a handful. Letting them roam free while trying to get some work done just will not happen. Their curiosity will not let them, so why not clue them in and start training the future’s free labor today! Learning to do basic fix-ups will also build their confidence and self-reliance, so it will work out great for everyone involved as it is a great way to spend time together. To help with that, we’ve listed some family handyman tips that the whole family can get in on.
1. Vegetable Patch
Kids and dirt. Name a better combo. Gardening is a great opportunity for kids to learn about plants and see how that ecosystem works firsthand. Afterward, they can learn discipline and reward through steady effort as they remember to water and weed the garden. To begin with, try growing some low-maintenance or fast-to-grow plants such as snap peas, radishes, salad leaves, carrots, cherry tomatoes, pumpkins, sunflowers, and potatoes. Soon, you’ll have your very own vegetable patch!
2. Routine Unclogging
Kids love water. But they aren’t aware of how plumbing works, and this is where you come in. When they’re toddlers, they may fancy flushing a rubber duck down the toilet because it will disappear. An older kid may use the garbage disposal as a garbage can. You can teach them about these things while also showing them how to address basic plumbing problems such as a clog.
A plunger is a good place to start. Show your kids the magic of unblocking a sink or toilet with a plunger. They’ll be awed when the water starts to flow again. Another plumbing solution you can show them is the emergency shut-off valve. That way, if they are home alone and there is a leak, they know exactly what to do. Basic plumbing is one of the family handyman tips that will save you money and unnecessary maintenance in the long run.
3. Paving a Pathway
Paving a path or driveway is a great project to get the whole family in on. Laying pavers is repetitive, and getting the whole family in on it will quicken the process, but you will have to do some quality control. Show the kids how to mix sand and cement in the appropriate ratios and let them screed it to achieve an even surface to lay pavers. They can also help you brush a sand and cement mixture through the cracks in the pavers as well as sprinkle water over the finished path. The best part about this project is how involving it will be for everyone.
4. Pool Maintenance
A swimming pool needs maintenance, and there are some age-appropriate chores the kids can do that won’t be all that boring. If the kids are big enough to handle a pool pole, they can certainly skim the pool for leaves. That is an easy chore, but there’s an even better one they’ll enjoy even more – vacuuming the pool. Just picture how fun it will be for them to see all the dirt and debris get sucked up. It’s also not that hard to set up a manual pool vacuum – a six-year-old could certainly do it. Now the next one might be laborious, but you can trust a kid to find scrubbing the pool surface fun.
The last of the pool family handyman tips is testing the pool water and keeping a pool journal where they can note down their pool test results and keep a maintenance schedule. Doing all this will make them feel proud and accomplished that they are running a pool all by themselves! With help from mum and dad, of course. You’ll soon have them telling you that you missed a spot.
5. Pressure Washing
What kid will be able to say no to a gun that shoots water? You can clean a lot with a pressure washer; driveways, wooden decks, concrete or tile patios, garage floors, cars, garbage cans, outdoor furniture, grills, front entrance stairs and walkways, fencing, and much more. You may even have been amazed at how clean a surface got after pressure washing. Your whole family can now share in that amazement too!
However, you should teach your kids that pressure washers are not toys. They can cause serious injury because they are strong enough to puncture the skin. They can handle one if they are old and responsible enough to understand the danger. Otherwise, there are some safe for kids pressure washers available on the market. Ultimately, a pressure washer will keep a kid busy for a long time and even create a business opportunity down the line cleaning other driveways and other dirty surfaces.
6. Remodeling
It’s most likely that you have some ideas to get the most out of a particular room. Perhaps that extra guest bedroom would be better suited as an office space. Or maybe your kitchen layout isn’t working as optimally as it should be. Whatever your residential remodeling idea is, you can find a job for everyone in it.
To improve the remodeling experience for your kids, have them make decisions on the final product. This can be smaller decisions like letting them help you pick a material or color from a sample of choices. Maybe they can choose knobs for the kitchen cabinets on your trip to the hardware store. Bring them along when you’re shopping for supplies as they’ll enjoy spending time with you.
Painting is one job that most kids will be able to do well with minimal guidance. If they can handle it, they can lay tile, put down vinyl flooring or even hammer a nail down. What you need to remember with any family handyman tips is to be patient. It will take your kids time to get the hang of things, so it won’t do them any good if you seem displeased. Family handyman tips for kids require encouragement and a nurturing hand.
During the remodel, you can also bring practical math applications into play. Along with learning about building tools, they can learn to measure length and materials. By the end, they will appreciate what goes into making a space livable, and maybe new ideas will germinate in their heads. Suddenly, there’ll be requests for playhouses, storage nooks, and whatnot.
7. Build a Small Treehouse
There’s something so fantastical and magical about treehouses that will appeal to kids and you as well. Depending on its design, this project can take quite a while to complete; everyone will be kept busy for a couple of weekends or even longer. In the process, they’ll get to help with the design, learn about structural integrity, suitable materials, tools, and much more.
Some of the basic tools you will use include a hammer, saw, square, level, adjustable wrench, tape measure, and for power tools, a cordless drill and jigsaw. Aside from all the tools they’ll learn to use, this is an opportunity for all to learn about structural integrity, suitable materials, construction techniques, and much more. For the little kids, you can even add a pulley system so they can easily bring tools up to mum and dad. This is one heck of a fun project.
8. A White Picket Fence
A fence will keep your children and pets inside and safe from prying eyes while also providing a measure of security from trespassers and animals. Your needs will dictate the type of fence you get; most can be done DIY style. Even an aluminum fence can be done with little more than a drill and a rented post hole digger if it is constructed to be DIY friendly.
As far as family handyman tips go, this is very rewarding once you sit back and look around. The wife can help dig the posts while the children can pour a set amount of gravel in each and use levels to ensure the posts are vertical. And finally, everyone can finish the fence with some paint. In short, residential fencing is one job that will keep everyone’s hands busy.
9. Fixing Water Issues
If you’re having issues with your water, like the water not being hot enough, leaky taps, or clogged gutters, you can enlist your family to help you. While some are tricky, like cleaning gutters, leaky taps can sometimes be fixed with a replacement or tightened with a wrench. If you’re able to diagnose water heater issues, you can take steps to repair them.
For example, replacing the thermostats or heating elements is something homeowners can typically do using the right tool. Sometimes flicking the pilot off and back on after some time or draining the water heater will do the trick. Either way, water heater repairs are a great opportunity to show older kids and the wife some top-tier family handyman tips, so they’re not helpless when you’re not home.
8. A Hidden Door Passage
A cool and spy-like feature that only the parents and kids know about? How cool is that? The best place to put such as feature would be a bookshelf where you pull on a book like a lever, and voila! It doesn’t even have to lead to any specific room so long as there’s a secret tunnel in the house.
If this home remodeling idea doesn’t float your boat, then they are others to consider that the parents and kids can both participate in creating. A cozy kitchen nook, for example, can keep the kids periodically occupied while you cook. It can be a simple enclosed nook with booth seating and a table they can use for playing games, coloring, and eating. You should also include storage space. Your construction family handyman tips will come in handy when everyone is preoccupied with the hidden tunnel or cozy play nook.
9. Mowing the lawn
A classic chore for kids. But there’s more to keeping your plot of land neat than just mowing. There’s spring and fall cleanup, leaf removals, garden maintenance, weeding, aeration, fertilization, and watering. Landscaping is one of the family handyman tips that just keeps on giving. These mundane maintenance activities are great for family bonding so long as everyone is involved. With the parents providing excellent handyman tips to the children, your compound can become a little patch of heaven for the family.
10. Electrical Malfunctions
Safety in electrical matters is important, and this is a point that needs to be stressed to children. But that doesn’t mean that they can’t learn about certain things. It can be as simple as flicking something on and off to learning how a radio or even an HVAC system works. For example, when diagnosing an HVAC problem, you can get some decent mileage out of a voltage sniffer, multimeter, insulated screwdrivers, and a socket set. Any electrical malfunction is a chance for the family to learn some electrical family handyman tips.
Furthermore, if the kids know a thing or two about electricity, they can alert you to potential electrical faults such as strange odors, buzzing sounds, or warm switches. If they know the signs of a problem, they can also stay safe and call the people who know all of these family handyman tips, i.e., the parents.
When teaching the kids through home projects, it doesn’t really matter which one you choose so long as everyone is involved in the process. Any time you spend together is great for passing down useful family handyman tips that will build their self-esteem. If you need assistance with any of the family handyman tips, feel free to reach out for professional guidance.
