Put a Little D.I.Y. in your child's weekend

Did you know that two and often three weekends a month you can build a project with your child for FREE at your local home improvement store? Both Lowe's and Home Depot offer children's workshops. 

Home Depot workshops are the first Saturday of every month, and are open to drop-in attendees from 9am to 12 pm, as long as supplies last. Children can receive an apron to personalize and get a pin after each program to add to their apron. Home Depot projects often involve paint, so don't go your baseball uniform!

Lowe's workshops are every other weekend, usually Saturdays from 10 to 11 am, but this summer they've added Sunday afternoon workshops as well! Lowe's requires registration to guarantee a spot. You can register online or call the store to sign up. Participants receive an apron at their first workshop and iron-on patches to add for each project. If you haven't registered, or your local store is not accepting additional registrations, you can still show up, wait about 20 minutes or so, and then claim any unused project kits. Lowe's projects are more likely to involve stickers than paint. This summer, projects are connected with Dreamworks' Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, and Shrek. 

Is it age appropriate? We take our 5 year old and almost 3 year old each week. As long as you are helping with the project assembly, the finished project is age appropriate for children who are beyond the small-parts-in-mouth phase. Older children (I'd say up to 10 or 12) would enjoy completing the projects more independently. Some at our local stores even bring their own tool sets!

This week's project at Lowe's is an ice cream truck. We'll be there - will you?