Blocks, building blocks!

[Bob Glenn]

When I was a kid, I remember going over to grandma and grandpa's house for dinner on the weekend. There was a box full of well worn wooden blocks. I would spend hours stacking them up after dumping them all out on the floor.

Now we have little ones visiting, usually on the weekend for dinner and guess what I decided to do with all my cutoffs? Boy, are they a big hit! It amazes me the creative ways they come up with playing make believe. They are having as much fun with them as I did making them! Be sure the blocks are too big for a little one to put in their mouth. Give it a try.

[Jim Koepke]

One of my daughters used to like getting my shavings and round pieces made from using a forstner bit from both sides for kids to use to make paper bag puppets. The shavings were hair and the round pieces from the forstner bits were eyes. Some glue guns, markers and paper bags filled the day for her classes of young uns when it was too rainy to go out side and play.

jtk

[Brian AdamsMS]

Many years ago when my two kids where toddlers (now in mid twenties) I made a set of 'Lincoln Logs' including a log cabin style box to put them in. We still have the original set next to our fireplace that the Grand kids play with. It awesome to be able to build something that brings lasting joy.

Just curious, did you use any kind of finish on your blocks? I was always concerned about what they might be chewing on.

[Lee Schierer]

After building several pieces of maple furniture, I had lots of short pieces of maple and a spare drawer that I had made the wrong size. I converted the maple scraps into blocks and the drawer into a box to hold the blocks. I put a finish on the box but none on the maple blocks.
http://home.earthlink.net/~us71na/blocks.jpg

[Bob Glenn]

No, I haven't put a finish on the blocks. Lincoln Logs...........I used to love Lincoln Logs. The drawer/box is a good idea. I've thought about making a small tool box with handle to put the blocks in, instead of the cloth bag. I'm trying to use up some of my wood stash with current projects, but you know how that works. You get about half way through using up some wood off the rack, then you have to go buy more to finish the project! If there was a wood horder's TV show, I think I would be featured on one of the first episodes. Bob

[John C Cox]

When I was young - the family moved. The movers crated up some of the stuff for the move. After the move - Dad was left with a big pile of crate material.....

So what does he do - make blocks for us kids..... The blocks ended up 1' long and 3/4" square.... And there was a big stack of them...... And we had literally years worth of fun with those things..... We made all sorts of castles and forts..... We taped them together to make all sorts of toys....

Even now - I let the kids make stuff out of shop scraps.... And they love it... Work in process - the girl is making a duck and the boy is making a shark....

[Jim Koepke]

If there was a wood horder's TV show, I think I would be featured on one of the first episodes.

After many years some of my lesser scraps, mostly fir, are finally getting used as firewood.


Even now - I let the kids make stuff out of shop scraps.... And they love it... Work in process - the girl is making a duck and the boy is making a shark....

One year when the grandkids were up we made toy airplanes out of scrap wood. When we all walked up to get the mail, the neighbor kids wanted to know where they got them. They were impressed when the kids told them, "we made them."

jtk

[John K Jordan]

Good for you! Anything to get little ones interested and get older ones away from the screens is worth while. Buying quality blocks is expensive but making is trivial. I've made them from a variety of woods and from HDPE, sand smooth, round the edges a bit, a variety of shapes and sizes.

JKJ

[Noah Magnuson]

A few years ago, I made a bunch of blocks for my daughter. If played with a few dimensions, and 1 1/8" seemed to be a good size to both grab and maximize block count and make for a good size for older kids as well. She was just born and used them from an early age and there was no issue with swallowability. I made every block size a multiple of that so they would stack to those discrete heights/lengths. I also made some square platforms of the same thickness and they add a nice dimension to building.

[Rick Potter]

I made so many Lincoln Logs, that I still have a permanent scratch in the table of my Unisaw from the miter guage, and that was almost 30 years ago.