by Jilliana

Created on: January 10, 2009

I'll never forget the gift my friends husband made up for their son once. The young boy was watching his father repair some furniture and kept insisting that he help. Finnally the father came up with the bright idea to let him, upon giving it great thought, the dad retrieved a clean piece of wood about 8" long by 2" thick by 4" wide and drove some clean aluminum nails into it but not all the way flush. He then gave his son a new very small hammer and let him have at the nails already inserted into the wood. The son was excited to help and it kept him busy long enough to let the dad get his work done.

I have seen small tool kits they advertise "for women" that would work very nicely for a child. However you would want to go through the kit carefully to take out any potential dangerous items if there be any.

If you feel using a real hammer would cause some problems, you can always use a toy one. It would be of great importance to make sure that the young one is not "hammering" on household items that should not be hammered. I found using a pretend hammer and screwdriver satisfies the child just as much as the real deal as long as they feel they are helping dad.

Another great idea is to insert screws along with the nails and let the child use his toy screwdriver. I have seen in the toy department pretend tools that are not bright colored but silver like the real thing, and to the child looking like dad is everything.

You can always make it a neat gift by getting a cute small tool box and filling it with the already needed items such as a toy hammer, screwdriver, the prepared wood with the nails and screws in it. Even get him his own work apron that will hold his tools as he works beside dad. I know that at some Paint Stores will give you an apron for free upon asking, and you dont even have to purchase anything most of the time. Be sure to add a really large pencil and measuring angle all the fun neat shapes that will keep the child entertained for quite some time.

After the dad and child are finished on their project, I would have the son put his tools away for the next time, this makes it more special and the idea wont wear out as quickly as most toys do.

After seeing how much fun my friends son had with the pretend work station, I bought my 5 year old daughter her own play tool belt and equipment. She had so much fun going around the house "repairing" everything. So it just goes to show that even a girl can get the job done.

Learn more about this author, Jilliana.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.