I would say it is a proud day in any father's life (well any woodworker's) when their child asks to build something for their birthday. My mom, my son, and I were in Lowe's on my son's 6th birthday and he asked me if we could buy one of those wood things we built a long time ago. I immediately knew what he was talking about and took him to the end cap that has all the Build and Grow kits. I really like these kits because they teach kids how to do small but important tasks like follow the directions, how to assemble something, hammering nails, etc. After going back and forth on the monster truck and the coin bank, he decided on the coin bank because he could then take to his grandparents to show it off and get their change to fill it up. All day long he was excited to build it and asked if we could put it on my website, how could I say no. And when the time came to build it, he did what any boy his age wanted to do... Just put nails in it and start hammering away.
STEP 1
Lay out all you parts to ensure you have everything prior to assembly.
STEP 2
We are going to start assembly from the bottom. After doing a couple of these we have found it easier to start the nails in the predrilled holes before lining up the mating piece.
STEP 3
We are going to hammer the bottom into the sides. Notice there are 2 holes in the end of one side and there is 1 hole on the end of the other side. This helps you determine which side is what.
STEP 4
Now is the time to hammer the back into place. Again lining up all the holes makes it easy to place the back in the correct orientation.
STEP 5
Now that the structure is built, it is time to slide in the dividers that will separate the chambers that hold the coins. The dividers slide easily into the pre-cut dados.
STEP 6
Slid the etched plexiglass into place in the pre-cut grooves. Make sure to orient the plexiglass with the numbers facing up.
STEP 7
The final step is to slide the slotted lid into place. Again this is done easily thanks to the pre-cut dados in the work piece.
Once this is done you will have your completed bank.
As you can see here my son was extremely happy to have another "piggy" bank (that's right, I said another... this kid has more coins than a coin star machine). But more importantly he can now tell everyone that he built this one. It wasn't a complex build or something done from complete scratch, but it is something my son wanted to do with me in the "shop" or my mother's living room and I took the time to help him. All it takes is a few minutes and this could ignite that woodworking passion in my son for the rest of his life.
Lowe's does an excellent job providing these basic kits for children and they even come with awesome instructions that are for the most part easy to follow. They come with a materials list and then assembly instructions, so it teaches kids to make sure you have all your materials before you start in on a project. Spending half an hour with my son building something that he will hold on too for a really long time was a treat. And when he is done with it, it will probably find a spot in the shop for display or to collect my change to get that next ice cream cone from Dairy Queen!
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