Call me a horrible dad, but I do not always drop everything to play with my daughter. I have stuff to do all the time, and honestly, if I let the monkey have her way, we would starve to death in the name of playtime.
Now, what I am big on is developing little traditions within my family.
One that my youngest daughter and I started recently is doing the Build and Grow clinics at Lowe’s. Don’t write me off, this is not a plug for them—I’m not being paid to write this, nor am I getting anything from them, I just think it’s an awesome program. Plus, it’s FREE! Who doesn’t love free stuff, right?
Here’s how it works—normally, every other Saturday, they will let kids come in and get a wood project kit. Everything you need is in the kit (except the tools, but the store provides a little hammer for you to borrow.) You turn in the waiver, grab your kit, and build away.
It can get loud with all the midgets banging away on their projects, but the migraines are well worth the time spent with the kiddo. We have built game boxes, music boxes, trains, flapping bats, even a periscope!
When you are done, you take the hammer back to the clinic helper, and you get a certificate and an embroidered patch depicting the project they did that week. They even provide a little Lowe’s apron that you can sew the project patches on to!
Now, in all fairness, I’m sure that other building supply stores do similar programs, but Lowe’s was closest to the hacienda. Since it only takes about 20-30 minutes to do the project, it seemed kind of silly to drive across town to any other store.
Check out your local stores and see what they do! It makes for a fun little outing, and my baby and I enjoy that little bit of daddy and daughter time together.
So talk to me—what little traditions do you have with your kids? I love to hear people’s stories!
Those hands-on projects do so much for motor skills and self esteem. Especially when the time spent is with dad!
Oh, absolutely! My daughter is still a bit uncoordinated with a hammer, but the improvement is amazing! She likely won’t end up on DIY anytime soon, but it’s nice to know she’ll be able to hang her own pictures one day, LOL!
That is awesome!! Not only for the fact of quality time spent with Daddeo, but that you are teaching your DAUGHTERS to use tools and build something!!
Thanks, Kelly!
The way I see it, it’s partly my responsibility to help raise independent, strong women. Some of that includes them understanding how to ‘do’ for themselves. The more skills they have, even simple ones like building or putting things together, the better!
Daddy can’t come to the rescue every time! 😉
That sound great! I’m forwarding this to my daughter’s dad (we co-parent). He will be all into it. I have heard of these programs before, but I didn’t realize the kits were free.
So far we don’t have a ton of traditions, but I like the idea of building in weekly dates with my daughter. I’ve recently started leaving her love notes on a little chalkboard in our kitchen. We do lunch dates. And in the evening we draw together before bed, and then read. It’s a nice ending to the day, calms us both down and gets us ready for sleep. 🙂
Thanks for coming by, Martha!
Yes, the program is free. One thing my store recommends is doing the online registration at https://lowesbuildandgrow.com/ in order to save your spot. I guess the rest are first come first served and they told me once that they only get 50 kits or something. You’ll want to check with the store near you for details.
I agree, dates with the kids are important and it makes them feel good. Kids love stability and being able to plan ahead on something. Even if its only a few hours ahead. LOVE doing notes. We got away from it for a little bit, but we are going to start it back up, I missed doodling little dumb stuff, lol! (Also, did you know that dry erase markers can be used on things like the fridge and bathroom mirrors? Wipes right off!)
It’s great that you do the little things like reading and being creative. She will benefit so much from it!
I appreciate you taking the time to talk with me! Come back as often as you like! 🙂
The Lego Store does a free build the first Tuesday of each month. I am big on building with the kids- so that Lowes program sounds good to me.
It’s pretty fun. My daughter enjoys it a lot also. Definitely try it!