Garage "Toddler Area" - Need Ideas

[goodysgotacuda]

My 2 year old daughter loves to spend time with me in the garage. She finds everything to play with from zip ties, nuts, bolts, washers, chalk, pieces of hose, you name it.

I have about a 5' long x 4' high x 2' deep section of the garage I would like to build into "her area". I would like a little coloring table, a door, light w/switch, things she can fiddle around with.

Inside I would like some ideas on things you may think would be entertaining. Since she's into collecting washers/nuts/etc in the garage I was thinking some sort of PVC pipe sorter. 2-3 sizes that twist and turn to drop something into a cup...stuff like that.

Any examples or ideas??

 

[rsanter]

I used to put my daughter in the convertable.
It was a joke that it was worlds most expensive playpen

 

[goodysgotacuda]

I used to put my daughter in the convertable.
It was a joke that it was worlds most expensive playpen

She bounces in and out of the car, no shoes and no tools allowed inside. She's really good at trying to take the turn signal stalk with her.

 

[fourjeepin]

I built one of those little activity boards for my kid. Except for some lights, it all was things I had laying around. Check etsy for ideas.

 

[RVDan]

My Dad always put my nephew in one of my trucks where he would destroy the interior for hours. I don't recomend it.

The safety police recomend you don't give her anything she can put in her mouth, cut herself with, drop on her foot, or suffocate herself with. So you can pretty much put her in a big cardboard box, that's about it.

 

[ard]

IMO her own workbench, light, tools or box would be great.

In terms of 'make work' tasks or toys, I'm less inclined. She will chose what she wants. And her interests will change over time. But her own space for 'her work' will be durable. Trick is not making it too 'baby'...

My kids were raised on Montessori - they have a very interesting structure using 'tasks' or 'jobs' which are used to train their brains around specific topics- logic, math, visual, etc skills. These things are beguiling simple but effective. neither here nor there for your garage question, but a phenomenal method for schooling.


Finally when we were building this house my son was 2-3 years old- he would hang in the garage which was the workshop for the project. Sorting bolts, moving stuff- brow furrowed as he would thread nuts onto bolts. helping dad.

He's 25 now. Mildly more helpful....

 

[zkdiesel]

Friends toddler gets clipped into the 10’boom jib crane where feet can barely touch ground in a toddler swing. Free travel in 20’ diameter circle. Bahaha!

 

[vavet]

I gave my son a 1x3 with holes drilled in it that were just a little too small for a #8 screw to drop through. I gave him a bunch of wood screws and a screwdriver and told him to pracice. The key is to drill the holes big enough that the screws thread easily, but not so big that they drop through.
At 2 y/o, she might still be a bit young for that. Maybe that'll be ok in a year.
I've also let my son play in my car while I was working on something. probably not he best idea, but at least our driveway is not a steep slope. Make sure you doublecheck all the lights are off when she's done in there. I learned that one the hard way. I came out Monday morning to find a dead battery.

 

[mrpizza]

We made my son a little activity board as mentioned. Had latches, switches, push lights, chain, all sorts of stuff screwed to it. Kept him busy for about 15 minutes, then he would go looking for a hammer

 

[sberry]

Mine have nearly destroyed the pvc fitting collection and spread the screwed fittings over a substantial area, still finding stuff. They love the nuts and bolts and the bit steel rack and build lots of Dr. Seuss looking stuff that requires quite a bit of imagination.

 

[sberry]

Twill do about anything, I have another one 3 1/2 and he will play in the shop but if I let him will get on my computer for hours, he can manage his way around and was playing some games the other day building electrical circuits. I have to drag him away from it, he will actually disappear and run over to the shop.

 

[Blk88GT]

I moved my daughter's playhouse into the shop, gave her some tools and leftover parts from projects. She's stolen the rest of her "collection" of stuff as time has gone on. She's 6 now and rides her scooter around the shop, hanging colored bungee cords on things and hammering finishing nails into 2x4 cutoffs after drawing butterflies and caterpillars on them.

Next, I plan on building a mezzanine and a ladder for her to explore. Probably put in a firepole or something for her to zip down. I love having her in the shop with me and wouldn't have it any other way!

 

[Toothaker]

I am so jealous! My 9 y.o. daughter has no interest in the garage. I invite her out, show her what I'm doing, and she just couldn't care less. Which is funny, because she has a wide variety of interests, and is interested in my ham radio and wants to help in the garden.

 

[Rex_A_Lott]

I gave my daughter some short 3/4 bolts and nuts to play with. But she amused herself for hours with the speed- e- dry and a red solo cup when she was about two. Even the grand kids like putting the stuff on the oil spots. All kids love a large cardboard box, one big enough they can get in. Go figure. Good Luck.

 

[sberry]

My eldest is a rigger. They like to hook on to stuff with rubber bungees but I made a rule, no rigging and pulling with rubber straps. He works the cherry picker.
a while back he came in and asked me to check if something was a "safe hook up". My folks never realized how much scary and dangerous stuff I did when I was a kid. At least mine has some guidance. He had hooked the picker on some disk gang job I was doing to help, I spose its not ideal that a kid of 7 or so is rigging heavy awkward objects but I had to admit he did it a lot better than adult mechanics I have seen. Had it choked and balanced, not overloaded, the thing must have weighed 500#.

 

[Automobilist]

The above ideas are great.
But you are a great Dad by letting her hang out in your space, and encouraging her. Keep it up, we need sharp, well adjusted young adults to take over before long...

 

[fsae0607]

Lol my 3 year old son loves playing with my zip ties. He grabs them and sticks them in any nook and cranny.

 

[matemike]

My daughter is 4 and loves to organize things. So I lay all the wrenches out on a carpet and let her arrange them from smallest to largest. She also has a little battery powered 4 wheeler in my shop and a pitch back net that she bounces a raquet ball off of and tries to catch it. The two cats usually hang with us while we're out there too. She can stay amused for about an hour or so usually. My wife also has aerial fabric (it's her exercise) that I rigged up with rope through a pulley system that leads to a cleat on the wall, so I can hang that fabric and let my daughter swing around on it over a padded floor mat. She can swing from a chain fall too if it's rigged up. Those little exercise trampolines come in handy too. Little Tykes makes one for cheap. Then she has a kite close by that she can run around with in the yard while I'm still out in the shop. If I ever can't see her she gets in trouble though.

My son is 1.5 and he just climbs on and off the tractor for about an hour making vroom vroom noises. I know he's going to take a tumble one day, but that's what kids do.

Both kids hate when I run a grinder or swing a hammer saying it hurts their ears and that's usually when the fun ends and I start insisting they go inside. Guess I'm a terrible dad sometimes.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

My daughter is 30, makes $300,000 a year, and can't figure out how to turn on the windshield washer. I wish I was making that up.

EDIT: Sorry. Couldn't resist. I think what you're all doing is fantastic (and I'd love to see how it all works out say 20 years from now...), but I got nothing except that chuckle.

 

[burninghXcsoul]

My 2 year old loves spending time with me in the garage. I put my anvil on the floor and give him a 1lb ball peen hammer and he goes to town. Fair warning though, he will attempt to hit everything in the shop with it at first haha.

 

[ard]

^^ whats that saying? To a two year old, everything looks like a nail

 

[matemike]

Yeah that t-ball and pitch back set are next to the electrical panel, but that's not where they get played with.
The swing set outside is a hit and that little tuff shed has been insulated, dry walled and has a window unit installed. Still dressing out the inside though.

I know these still aren't what you are invisioning as "her area" but it is what a shop becomes when you're a dad.

 

[Jeff Ivers]

OK, I have tried to ignore this thread - and failed. I am a grandfather, an old fart, working on his curmudgeons degree. I think it is great when fathers spend time with their kids. When I read the title of this thread, I envision a man wanting to create an area to corral his child while he is busy on something he needs to keep them away from for their safety. That is great. But then I read about letting them "play" with items that are choking hazards such as nuts and screws. Letting children pay with such items when closely supervised is fine. Allowing them to play with such things while your attention is diverted is a potential recipe for the kind of disaster that can ruin many lives. Hope that is not what you had in mind.

 

[ozyborn]

Here I was thinking "toddler resistant area" garage. If they are anything like my boys. Start with large sheets of battleship armor belt and work up from there.

 

[larry_g]

Having a grandson in that age group I can confirm that no OHSA inspector could find the hazards a youngster can find. He runs from one machine to another flipping switches and turning knobs. Loves to crank the carriage on the lathe and move the table on the mill. That means all mains power be removed from the machines and no tooling is in harms way if the table runs into it.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[TractorJeff]

Privatelugnutz are you talking about my son-in-law?
A couple of weeks ago we were having dinner at the kids house. We all kind of noticed the oven quit working. My daughter starts grabbing the tools I bought her last Christmas and helping me get down to the ignitor. He just kind of stood by and let us fix it. (at least good enough to finish dinner). I commented to the wife on the way home that he should have offered to help. to which she replied, "Well, you taught her, not him!"

 

[Lelandwelds]

An acquaintance built a work bench. It has captive gate latches, wooden nuts that thread for about 18 " but both ends are glued into bench legs. It has electric switches which are not hooked to anything. It has a steering wheel. Some stuff can be rotated out when not fun anymore. There is something on all sides.

He built a tiny kitchen with painted microwave, frig, oven, a real sink and faucet. The doors move but the interiors are just paint. The knobs, doors, and kid's initials are the big hits.

The work bench in the kitchen seemed odd to me. She has a plastic shopping cart and a wagon too. It all fits together in her world.

My grand daughter has her own table with "cow jumped over moon" theme. It was part Craiglist find and part new backs added to existing factory kid's sized wooden chairs. I only did two chairs.

 

[NUTTSGT]

My 6 year old grand daughter told the wife she wants a spot out in the garage where she can be and stay out of Pop pop's way. She also wants her own tool box so she can work on stuff herself.

That being said, she is getting a tool box for Christmas. I considered a small plastic pink one but after some thought, she's getting more than that. I bought her a 3 drawer Cman tool box. It'll be getting some wet sanding and a coat of pink paint over the red. The drawers will stay charcoal and the interior/bottom will get a coat of bed liner. I've picked up a few tools to stock it and as time goes, she can add to the box.

I figured she can literally keep this box forever and use it as she sees fit....her own garage some day, as a jewelry box, desk supplies at college or just basic tools in her own home when she gets married twenty years from now. Whatever she does with it, it's a memory from me, which I don't believe she'll forget.

 

[ckadams00]

Obviously MIG since she's only two.

 

[preppypyro]

My kids (2,5) get free roaming access in my garage. I have toys in there for them, but they usually end up finding whatever I have laying around. One thing I did, is I cut some round slab pieces of different sizes out of some pine, and left them laying around "strategically" and this winter they have flocked to them. They make all kinds of interesting towers and whatever else they do.

I also bought some plastic toy tools, and they really love those, although my 5 year old daughter has upgraded to asking me for my wrenches, screwdrivers, hammers, etc.

I spend a ton of time cleaning up after them, but its so worth it to me. A dedicated area might be good for some kids, but it just wouldnt work for mine.

 

[gahrajmahal]

IKEA actually has some decent kids play furniture. Our driveway is very steep and I thought to use a tennis net and removable poles as a boundary for the top flat area. This could work inside a garage with a few bungee cords.

I have handed out my shiny chrome socket set while out at the job site to my three year old grand daughter as a shape sorter. Never did find that 1/2" socket!

 

[sberry]

The would never fool with anything dangerous.

 

[JDMopar]

Mike....I have no suggestions since I have never had kids, but I will make a prediction. If that little apple fell anywhere in sight of the tree.....she will have her own car built by the time she's 12, and be sneaky enough to have Foose fix one for Mom and Dad! LOL

 

[zjrog]

Wish my grandkids were a lot closer to me so it would be easier to spend time with them. As it is, my first grandson already has a small tool bag I started for him. Now I have another grandson and I will start his soon too. I already have a set of tools for my son-in-law, when they get done moving all over the place. Look forward to their round of kids when they get to them.

 

[PatJ800]

My daughters are 17 and 5, so my garage is on "round two."

By far the most popular are PVC fittings. I have a box maybe 2x3x2 full of PVC and ABS fittings, with a few rouge plastic conduit fittings. Many sizes, many configurations, slip, thread. Much of it comes from ~20 years ago when Ernst Hardware was going out of business, I filled a shopping cart heaping with random PVC fittings for maybe $10. Every short piece of pipe since has gone in there too. Its amazing what they build; robots, guns, ladders, etc. When the cousins come over they hit the box too.

Second place is my 2 gallon galvanized bucket right below the bottle opener, bucket maybe 1/2 full of bottle caps. That combined with my few magnet retrievers seems pretty fun.

Jeff Ivers' concerns are no joke, coming from a guy that works at a hospital and has seen it happen. Know your kids' limitations as you build the activities because stuff happens fast.