Picking a Hammer for My 4 Year Old Son

[TheVintonZoo]

My Oldest is about to turn 4 in June. He loves to help Dad in the garage.

I would like to buy him a real hammer for his birthday, something he can actually use and control but that will grow with him and still be useful as he ages.

My first thought was something in the 8 oz size, he is about 50 lbs and really tall for his age.

Does anyone have any thoughts for size/type/manufacturer?

JD

 

[Frank Dukes]

12oz maybe? this is a real hammer. no clue if thats too big for a 4 year old tho lol

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Estwing-...er-with-Shock-Reduction-Grip-E3-12C/202183832

this little guy might fit the bill better for his age but i can see it outgrowing its usefullness.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Estwing-...ry-Handle-MRW7C/203075921?N=5yc1vZc98pZ2bcsv9

 

[Lx460]

I guess you've never heard the expression , "I'd all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail"? Either that or all your possessions are made of rubber...

Good luck, let us know how it works out for you.

 

[zhaddock]

FWIW My 4yo and 6yo always want a hammer to bang on stuff while they are with me in the garage but the only one I will let them have is a small rubber dead blow. I have nightmare images of them hitting something hard with a clawed hammer and having the head bounce back up and hit them in the eye with the claws. Or hitting the other one who is behind them with the claw on the back swing. I had two friends growing up that are brothers. The older one lost his left eye when he and his brother were helping their dad roof the house. The younger one didn't notice his brother behind him. He pulled back with the hammer and ran the claw right trough his eye.

 

[Fugio]

^^^THIS^^^

When my son and daughter were that age I made them a couple of hammers out of wood. They each got a cross pein looking one, and my daughter got a wood sledgehammer because she was watching Conan and likes the one that one of the muscle guys was swinging at Arnold. She's almost 20 now and still takes that thing to cosplay events sometimes.

With minimal woodworking skills and minimal painting, you can make them a MUCH safer hammer that will completely satisfy them.

 

[Kracin]

give him a 8oz dead blow with plastic cap ends. a bunch of balsa wood, and a pack of plastic nails.

if he handles them well enough and doesn't band his hand up, smash your stuff up, and actually wants to nail some stuff together, then go for the big boy stuff. gotta start somewhere.

maybe sit there with him and help him hammer some small projects together before thinking he is going to just start building stuff on his own with a hammer and some nails. cut up some wood, get some small nails and make a birdhouse, mailbox, etc. do enough projects and teach along the way and he should pick up what its all about.

i know i can't trust my two youngest boys with hammers. if i set them at a table and gave them hammers and nails. the first thing to be hit with the hammer would be one or the others hand/head/knee/leg/foot/face/ear/nose/toes/fingernail/eye/epidermis. unless i was standing there watching the whole time, they love to play like kids way too much to sit down and do something that involved for that long

 

[Fugio]

Where do you get plastic nails?

I took pieced of scrap wood and used the drill press to bore lots and lots of holes in them. Then I cut up some dowell rods and my son used those as "nails" to pound into the holes. Easy to punch back out at the end of the day so he could start over in the morning with a new "project." And they didn't damage his wood hammers.

Oh, and take your son to the local HD or Lowes on Saturday mornings when they have a kids project going on. It's free and your son will enjoy the hell out of it!

 

[Kracin]

Where do you get plastic nails?

I took pieced of scrap wood and used the drill press to bore lots and lots of holes in them. Then I cut up some dowell rods and my son used those as "nails" to pound into the holes. Easy to punch back out at the end of the day so he could start over in the morning with a new "project." And they didn't damage his wood hammers.

Oh, and take your son to the local HD or Lowes on Saturday mornings when they have a kids project going on. It's free and your son will enjoy the hell out of it!

http://www.industrialplastics.co.uk/Plastic Nails.html

a few searches and you could find a bunch for sale somewhere i bet. otherwise just buy a bunch of golf tees and predrill holes so things can be "nailed" together.


i forgot about those. they do those builds all the time, and you can purchase the pre-cut kids that require hammering together as well , firetrucks, police cars, etc. if you don't have time to cut the forms out and buy paint, etc.

 

[Fugio]

http://www.industrialplastics.co.uk/Plastic Nails.html

you can purchase the pre-cut kids that require hammering together as well , .

Where do you live? Around here they will arrest you for pre-cutting your kids and hammering them together, which is a real shame. I remember back in my day when the parents would pre-cut their kids and hammer them together when they needed it. Back then we learned to show some respect for our elders!

 

[ChevyEFI]

We recently made a cake for our son turning 5. Monster-truck themed.

To crush the (matchbox sized) cars being run over by one of the trucks on top of the cake, my wife asked me for a hammer.

Nearest item I had handy was a shattered G-force output shaft from a C5 Vette of a customer.

That's what you were looking for, right?

 

[jeepinerdeep]

I received an 8 oz claw hammer with a fiberglass shank about that age. I still have it and use it for hammering tiny nails in trim.

It has no markings, and it is good quality. I just don't see one like it on Amazon.

I received a Stanley toolbox saw shortly after that. Everyone thought my folks were crazy.

I found a nice Vaughan in 10oz...would serve him his lifetime.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00004Z2WN/?tag=atomicindus08-20

There is always the stubby 8oz version. But honestly I think that would not be beneficial and only make the learning harder.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EPFUQI2/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[TheVintonZoo]

So far he is greatly motivated by being given a job and something to do.

As most of you mentioned, anything that looks like a club is a club. But, the specter of having to leave the garage if he can't listen usually puts the kibosh on that.

He can use a shop vac and loves to sweep up. If I assist, he can drive screws and install lug nuts.

My hope is that if I give him the opportunity and make my expectations clear that at least part of it will stick.

Good suggestion on the plastic nails, I was going to go roofing but plastic is probably safer.

He has a little workbench that I will be moving to the shop and reinforcing the top:

I plan to lanyard the hammer to it so his sphere of influence is limited.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Keep em coming!

 

[Uncle_Charlie]

Where do you live? Around here they will arrest you for pre-cutting your kids and hammering them together, which is a real shame. I remember back in my day when the parents would pre-cut their kids and hammer them together when they needed it. Back then we learned to show some respect for our elders!

 

[ttpete]

Something like this. Wait on the real thing with metal heads.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004NCEL4M/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[dutchgray]

The Vaughan little pro 10oz is a good choice if your set on a real claw hammer.

 

[CNGsaves]

How about a soft-faced hammer with the replaceable ends?? Sears has one on sale now for $19.79 for Craftsman Club members.
http://www.sears.com/craftsman-soft-face-hammer-with-4-tips/p-00938388000P

Also, I'd get him 6" Crescent wrench and assortment of bolts, washers, lock washers, and nuts to have fun putting together & taking apart, especially if you include enough wooden blocks with holes, wheels, etc. that he can make his own "car" of sorts.

 

[tube_guy]

When my son was about four or so, I bought him one of these from Sears.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Craftsm...842?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43c5b5a1e2

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Craftsman-T...606?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a4cab891e

I believe it's made by Vaughan, and I think they were about 10-12 dollars at Sears. My son was able to use it at the time, but he did have to choke up on the handle a bit. Now he's 9 and he can use it really well. When I was a kid, my Dad got me a similarly sized Millers Falls hammer that I still use today for finish work around the home, so something like that would probably still be useful to him as he gets older.

 

[tube_guy]

Looking around online, that Craftsman hammer has a 7 ounce head. It's also been discontinued as far as I can tell, which is kind of a shame. It's a really nice hammer for a younger person.

 

[kctyphoon]

i seriously thought this thread was going to be a joke.. like "9mm for my son's 8th birthday"

 

[Tim37]

A few weeks back I made wood hammers for my nephews. Very simple and they where very happy

 

[Palmer812]

Harbor Freight has or at least use to have a 4oz. dead blow that was $3. I have one and love it. I use it on guns to drive out plastic pins and other things.