As many of you know, my partner Helen and I have a fondness for making toys from PVC pipes. We’ve done a PVC pipe construction set, a rain stick and even a wild musical pipe set that at least one reader has copied to great success.

Today, I wanted to assure you that we’re not the only ones who share this weird obsession. The folks at NASA who run the Hubble Space Telescope have in fact provided instructions for making your very own PVC model of the famous orbiting spyglass. It requires a few pipes of various sizes, some end caps, and a few craft supplies, and looks like a great rainy-day project to do with your older kids. It requires some drilling and sawing, and thus an adult presence, but there are also various bits to glue and tape that would be suitable for younger folks. Have fun!

A PVC rainstick is the next in my series of Kids’ Toys from the Hardware Store. It’s a nice complement to a set of PVC musical pipes, and simpler to build. Again, credit goes to my partner the engineer for creating this; I’m just the journalist here.

Materials:

• About 2′ of 1 1/4″ PVC pipe (Shorten for a small child or lengthen for a taller one.)
• A dozen screws—this is the tricky part:
  #6 1″ round (pan) head wood screws with threads all the way up to the head (Round, not flat, head is necessary to avoid sharp edges. Full threading is needed because it is the top threads that will grip the pipe.) These can be hard to find. You may need to ask the staff at your hardware store.
• Two 1 1/4″ PVC endcaps
• Dried black beans

Tools needed:

• Drill
• Screwdriver
• Saw (if pipe isn’t already cut)
• Rubber mallet (optional; regular hammer will also do)

Instructions: Read more »

Lots of people seemed to like the PVC Pipe Construction Set I wrote about a few months ago, including Parent Hacks, GeekDad, and the FemiKnitMafia (whose son got one from us as a present). My partner, ever the engineer, thus set out to build another PVC creation, a musical pipe set inspired by those of Blue Man Group. (Call us the Blue Mom Group.) I’ll claim a minor role in design consultation, but give her full credit for construction.

When you whack the ends of the pipes with a rubber paddle (we use a flip-flop with the straps cut off), they make a pitched “doink” sound that entertains kids and adults alike. See video for a demo.

The project is slightly more complicated than the PVC Pipes Construction set, but should pose no problem to those with basic saw, drill, and hammer skills. You could do a full eight pipes and adjust the lengths to form a full octave; we went with the more manageable (and cheaper) five pipes in simple one-foot intervals. For just over $25, it’s an unusual item that could amuse kids at birthday parties and all year round. Make it educational and point out the correlation between pipe length and pitch. Read on to find out how it’s done. Read more »

Every young child I know loves to smear things on walls, whether food, paint, or merely dirty hands. Channel that impulse with a three- or four-inch paint roller. It’s not for children who like to bludgeon with such objects, but for others, it can provide a surprising amount of amusement, indoors and out. “Paint the house like Bob the Builder,” you can direct, while doing yard work or preparing dinner. Don’t let your child use real paint, of course, but rather moisten the roller just enough to leave a damp streak and create the sense of painting. Do set the requirement that younger siblings and pets are off limits.

(Read the rest of the series.)

My son loves to help with projects around the house, though at three and a half, he is often more earnest than useful. Still, my partner and I don’t want to dissuade him, so we’re always on the lookout for parts of the job suitable for his skills. Placing and reading a level is just the thing, more so because it means he can use a tool from the otherwise mostly forbidden Grownup Toolbox.

Just be warned you may have everything in your house measured for alignment once your young one gets started.

(One in an ongoing series.)

We always seem to have an excess of plastic kids’ tools around our house. Despite the fact that many children’s tool sets come with a toolbox, others come with only a workbench, some get handed down without the box, and some items make their way into the box on their own—flashlights, an old pair of safety goggles, blocks of wood. Somehow, we always had more tools than box space.

Luckily, small plastic toolboxes can be had for around $5 or $6 at the hardware store. No, they don’t come pre-decorated with a Bob the Builder motif, but that’s why God made stickers. Your young builder may also groove on having a “real” one rather than a kiddie version. (Kids can be spookily aware of such things. From about a year old, my son was able to tell the real remote from the defunct one we left for him to use.)

Buy a few and use one for tools, one for crayons, and one for lunch. Nothing says “I’m a lesbian mom” like opening up a toolbox to pull out your PB & J’s at the playground.

Flashlights are natural kids’ toys. I’ve never known a child not to be fascinated with the power of shining a spot on the wall. You can buy any number of character-branded ones, but I’ve found that plain but colorful 6″ AA plastic lights are just as attractive to kids. Here are a few activity ideas:

• Go camping—even if it’s just under a sheet-covered kitchen table.
• Dance. My son’s music teacher has a basket of lights she hands out during the soft songs. The children love shining them on the walls of the darkened room in time to the music.
• Make shadows. Lay the flashlight on a table, pointed at a blank wall. Use this free copy of a charming 19th-century book, Hand Shadows to be Thrown upon a Wall, to guide you (though the classic two-fingered “bunny ears” may be enough to amuse most toddlers).
• Soothe fears. Sometimes the comfort of a small light is enough to scare away ghosts.
• Cover the end of the flashlight with red cellophane or an uninflated red balloon to go stargazing. The red light won’t ruin your night vision.
• Layer different colored balloons over the flashlight end to teach your child about color mixing.
• For older kids in groups, try any one of the flashlight games from this English scout site.

Read the rest of this series.

From Ru at Hedda Dabbler comes the idea of a watering can for kids. She notes, “It is so versatile - a purse, a planter, a container of any sort really - and best of all, it is intended to do that most exciting of all things - pour water!”

Ah, yes, the perpetual fascination with water. That coincides nicely with my own hardware-store idea for the week, a plastic squeegee. It’s a great bathtub toy, especially with a little extra shampoo or bubble bath in the mix. Besides, “squeegee” has to be on the “top ten most fun words to hear a toddler say” list.

The third installment in this series brings us to duct tape. This isn’t a good toy to give young children directly—it’s hard to handle and can hurt when pulled off skin—but it can be used by you to make all kinds of other toys. I’ve covered an empty two-liter soda bottle with it to create a “fire extinguisher” for a Halloween costume, and similarly the next year to create air tanks for an astronaut outfit.

Older kids may want to attempt craft projects themselves with the sticky stuff. The Duck Tape Club offers a variety of ideas, including a duct tape book cover, lunch bag, wallet, picture frame, bookmark, bracelet, purse, glasses case, and even flip flops. (They also sponsor a scholarship contest for the couple (genders happily unspecified) that creates and wears the best prom wear out of duct tape.) Instructables shows you how to make a multipurpose duct tape checkers/chess/backgammon board. (Thanks to MAKE for the link.) For those of you who really want to go all out, you’ll be pleased to discover that Duck brand duct tape now comes in 20 different shades.

Helpful hints: Use the sharpest scissors you own. If you’re doing the project yourself, an X-Acto knife or box cutter may be easier. (Kids should stick with scissors for safety.) Hold the tape taut when you cut it—an extra pair of hands can be useful here.

Dykes and hardware stores seem to go together like, well, dykes and softball.* I therefore thought I’d start a new weekly series for us lesbian moms on kids’ toys you can buy or make based on simple items from the hardware store. (*Yes, I know I’m overgeneralizing. Personally, I’m not at all fond of softball and find my preschooler’s plastic tee ball a challenge.)

This first installment will show you how to create a cheap but fun construction set out of PVC pipes. It’s a wonderful toy because it can turn into anything your child can imagine. My partner made one for our son as a holiday gift, and he builds everything from musical instruments (think Blue Man Group) to spaceship controls. (The usual cautions about small children and stick-like objects apply.) Read more »