How to keep the kids busy

It's tough when you're up to your neck in poo holes renovations and there's a little pair of hands desperate to get involved with the hammers and power tools.

To keep the red-headed kid involved in construction yet safely out of the way, I schemed up a little project for him using scrap trim from under the cottage.

We needed a storage solution for our screwdrivers. The toolbox was a deep-dark hole that swallowed up screwdrivers rendering it impossible to find the one you wanted when you needed it!

First, the wee lad and I came up with the plans. He counted the number of screwdrivers and measured the fattest one to help us arrive at our dimensions.

Then he measured the boards (measure twice, cut once!) and marked where he needed to cut. When someone doesn't know how to divide fractions, working with an imperial tape measure is a bit of a pain in the butt.

Here's a photo of him cutting his boards. Someone get that kid a haircut!

Once he cut the boards I had him sand down the edges. No photos at this point. I was too busy being hands-on with the construction guidance and supervision.

With the edges nicely sanded, we measured, marked and drilled the holes for the screwdrivers through both boards at once. He really liked this part. Lots of clamping and drilling with a big, fat drill bit.

Then he had to measure and mark the sides to determine where to place the horizontal boards.

While I held the boards in place, he pre-drilled his holes (more fun with the drill!) and then tapped in the nails that held it all together.

He is so proud of his project! And look! He got a haircut too.