OT - Mechanical "busy toy"

[sawdustmaker]

My 2.5 yr. old grandson seems to be totally facinated by tools and anything
mehcanical. When he's in my garage he goes straight to the workbench and
tool rack and says "papas tools" and wants to know what everything is. I
was installing a facuet today and he sat down by me and start playing with
the wrenches and again wanted to know what everything was. He loves to move
levers, turn knobs ...

I thought I could make a toy / board with captured large nuts (maybe
plastic pipe) so he could screw and unscrew them, old faucet handles, maybe
sprinkler stuff ... and other fairly large things he could manipulate. of
course they'd have to also be safe.

Thought I'd poll the group for other ideas / links to stuff like that.

[k...@attt.bizz]

On Sun, 24 Jul 2016 01:25:10 GMT, sawdustmaker <sawdus...@ww.com>
wrote:

Big wood screws and nuts (can't be swallowed)? Something that might
integrate with an erector set, or some such later.

[Sonny]

On Saturday, July 23, 2016 at 8:25:13 PM UTC-5, sawdustmaker wrote:

> I thought I could make a toy / board ...

My first thought was to add a hinge to the hardware mix, but then....

Or make a toy box, briefcase-like, with a hinged lid, drawer handle. A small wooden mallet is easy to make, but be aware of abuse of the furniture and other fixtures. Have an old cabinet drawer handy... just add a lid & latch to it, trim the face edges, if need be.

Plastic pipe is a good idea. PVC and CPVC?... and a few fittings.

*Gojo and paper towels for his birthday?

Sonny

[Keith Nuttle]

I can not offer any suggestions on the toy, but getting the child (I had
two daughters) involved with tools at a young age is good. My daughters
are in their 40's and still like to "Play" with tools. In fact their
tool knowledge is better than their husbands. They will take an
appliance apart to see if it can be fixed, while their husbands are
wondering what to do.

When they were about your grandsons age, they would help me work on the
car. They would basically hand me tools as I needed them. When we did
little odd jobs around he house, they would be their helping me. Again
started hand me tools then holding things as I nailed or whatever.

[Unknown]

Sonny <cedar...@aol.com> wrote in
news:eef416a1-aefa-4e3f...@googlegroups.com:

My favorite tool is a wooden mallet. I've made 2 or 3 of them recently,
of various sizes. One happened to be just perfect for tapping the
bearings out of my inline skates, not heavy enough to harm anything but
just enough to get them moving.

A wooden wrench and some nuts would be a cinch to build, Grizzly has a
tap for 1"-8 threads for around $20, I don't remember about the die. If
you make a round top with several studs you might be able to show him
tightening patterns. I don't know if you'd want to taper the nuts like a
lugnut for this, it does show the problem better but at the same time
he's at the age where he'll just trust you.

Puckdropper

[Bill Leonhardt]

When my son was that age, I built him a box. A cube about 8" on a side. Each side had a door (except bottom) with a different type of cabinet latch for him to try. He enjoyed "storing" things in that box. While he didn't make it, he enjoyed watching it come together.

Bill Leonhardt

[Just Wondering]

A child that age will be perfectly happy with a box of odd-size pieces
of scrap wood.

[G. Ross]

I still have the tool box with the bent-in top that my first daughter
stood on to watch me work. (1963) I made her a non-tipping stool to
stand on that she carried around. Wonder if she still has the stool.

--
GW Ross

If it walks out of your refrigerator,
LET IT GO !!

[notbob]

On 2016-07-24, Just Wondering <fmh...@comcast.net> wrote:

> A child that age will be perfectly happy with a box of odd-size pieces
> of scrap wood.

Perhaps.

I was given a Stanley tool box with real adult hand tools when I was
about 5 yrs old. First thing I recall doing ....using the bit and
brace to drill a hole in my child-sized all-oak roll top desk. Worked
perfectly. Strangely enough, both my mother and father were not quite
so proud of my newly acquired woodworking skills. ;)

nb

[k...@attt.bizz]

On Sat, 23 Jul 2016 21:42:35 -0700 (PDT), Bill Leonhardt
<holzl...@gmail.com> wrote:

>When my son was that age, I built him a box. A cube about 8" on a side. Each side had a door (except bottom) with a different type of cabinet latch for him to try. He enjoyed "storing" things in that box. While he didn't make it, he enjoyed watching it come together.

Teaching the tyke to be able to break into anyone's cabinets, eh?

[Bill]

When I was about that age, my parents gave me a "woodworking kit" that
was designed around cutting and drilling 1/4" styrofoam. I really liked
it. I think instead of 4'by8's I had 3"by6"s! ; )

[DerbyDad03]

On Saturday, July 23, 2016 at 9:25:13 PM UTC-4, sawdustmaker wrote:

How about you start with his own workbench?

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/95/92/31/959231b2514e8955de574224b1a45787.jpg

http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-36301388650840_2269_622462690

Then add some plastic nuts and bolts...

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/eA-cwDjuWw8/maxresdefault.jpg

...some cars to mix-and-match wheels on...

http://www.ana-white.com/sites/default/files/wheelie%20cars%201.jpg

..and a "puzzle" that will teach manual dexterity.

http://www.antdress.com/getImg.php?url=http://d2uid5bon7zotp.cloudfront.net/uploads/201203/heditor/201203201654369082.jpg

PVC pieces and parts could be fun too, although they may need some
modification to allow them to be put together and taken apart easily, yet
stay together once assembled.

http://offbeatmama.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/2/files/2012/07/PVC014-500x373.jpg