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Forget DIY It's DIWF
Do It with Family By Sue Marquette Poremba
What to DoStromer suggests coming up with a project that allows the child to make mistakes and give tasks that are age appropriate. "Do it in baby steps," he says. "Let them build self-esteem. In a few years, they'll be doing more on their own. It's like real life. They have to learn by making some mistakes."
Johnson agrees. "You don't want to discourage them," he says. "Pick areas for small failures, but projects that will continue to keep the kids interested."
As a former teacher and father of two teenage sons, Johnson is a firm believer in hands-on learning. When he wanted his sons to learn how to use a hammer and pound nails, he taught them by building bird houses. If they bent nails, it didn't matter.
"Unfinished furniture is a great way to get kids involved with a home project," he says. It is inexpensive and easily replaced if ruined. More importantly, it teaches kids how to pick out colors, how to varnish and apply stains and even how to assemble.
Another good DIY project for families is painting, and one of the best ways to get kids involved with painting projects is let them be in charge of their own space. "Painting is a great way to constantly change and update the look of your home," says Debbie Zimmer, color and decorating expert for The Rohm and Haas Paint Quality Institute. "What's especially nice is that it is truly something the whole family can do together."
When your daughter announces she has outgrown her pink princess bedrom and wants something a little funkier, let her take the lead while you take the role of advisor, and perhaps the rest of the family can be the crew. From the project, she'll learn that painting is more than picking a color and brushing paint on the wall. It is emptying and cleaning a room to prepare it, removing the border along the ceiling and taping along the windows and doors.
