You don’t have to spend a ton of cash or take up half the room with a great looking study space for your kids. This DIY kids’ desk is a great project to tackle before they need to it the books!
What you’ll need:
two 12- or 14-inch L-shaped brackets
2 16″ x 36″ wood panels
Elastic ribbon
Paint
Paintbrush
Screw eyes
Elastic cord
Screws
Drill
Stapler
Make it:
Paint both panels and let them dry.
Mount both L-shaped brackets to the wall to create the desk panel. (Screw desk into the brackets for safety)
To make the backboard of this desk, stretch elastic ribbon around a 16″ x 36″ wood board in a grid and staple to back. This is great for showing off an A+ or recent artwork.
Insert two screw eyes into either side of the panel’s front (about 5 inches up from bottom).
Thread elastic cord through the holes and knot on one side. This can hold an open textbook or notebook.
Mount board using the appropriate screws for your wall.
I’m sure I’ve said this before, but my 5-year-old son Oliver is of the wheel-loving variety. Cars, trucks, trains…he loves it all. This project is so easy and is an automatic winner. It’s basically 2 materials—felt and duct tape— and no drying time. Gotta love crafts that simple.
What you’ll need:
Cereal or cracker box
Ruler
Scissors
Pencil
Black felt
Yellow duct tape
Parchment paper
So the first thing to do is to measure and draw a 5″ by 5″ square onto the cardboard and cut it out.
Then, take this square and lay it on your felt to trace. You can make straight lines by just moving that cardboard piece or you can make an intersection like this one. Basically, I kept tracing and cutting until I ran out of black felt. Flip the felt over before the next step so any pencil lines are on the back.
The last step is to put the street lines on. Have you ever tried cutting duct tape? It’s a total pain in the rear—it sticks to the scissors, curls up, sticks to itself; basically, it’s a nightmare. So I came up with this quick technique. Ready? Rip off a piece of duct tape and stick it to parchment paper. Then, cut 1/4″ to 1/2″ wide strips. They peel right off and stick to the felt really well. Now it’s time to play!
Oliver and his friend Elias loved driving his cars around the streets! (Then Sommer came home from ballet, and joined in. Why not?) Bonus: It’s a great (read: lightweight), portable toy to take on trips.
Just as one extra added step, I made this little handy storage bag. I’m on a constant toy-organization rampage, and I figured it would be the easiest way to get Oliver and Sommer to put these pieces away. (It’s totally worth having a stash of these cotton bags to store small toy parts and pieces in!)
Trash to treasure…a phrase we’ve all be hearing for decades. Now we can just paraphrase that sentiment into one glorious word: upcycling!
As a mom and a crafter, you are a natural upcycler. Your kid says he wants to make an airplane, so you grab for that paper towel tube. She wants to make an owl? Dig through the recycling bin for an empty juice box.
These are two of my very favorite projects from my book, Project Kid! Watch how to make them in this video from Craftfoxes!
