Building and Growing

I took the kids to Lowe's this morning. Every other Saturday they have their "Build and Grow" workshops for kids. This is one of my favorite things to do with the boys. It's really a fantastic thing that Lowe's does for the community. They have little tables set up and they have pre packaged projects. In the bag they have all the pieces with pre drilled holes for the nails. They have a set of plans to follow and hammers for all the kids. They also give the kids aprons and safety goggles to keep. Each time you complete a project, they give you a patch to sew on your apron. Best of all, you get a snack and a juice box when you're done. And most importantly, it's free! There are all kinds of projects they've made: a squirrel feeder, a valentine mailbox, a few kinds of trucks, a measuring tape, a few different games, and today they made a firetruck. Some of the projects are pretty difficult for the carpentry challenged, like myself. But most of the time, they are pretty simple.
My boys really look forward to "Lowe's day" as they call it. Usually, I do Corban's first. On days I'm feeling really brave, I let him try to hammer a few of the nails. I do Corban's as a kind of a practice, because I usually mess it up a little, but learn how to do it right by the time I do Calvin's. So, while Corban is watching, and "helping" me, Calvin is talking to any other kid nearby who will listen. When I finish with Corban's, he then has a new toy that will keep him busy while I work with Calvin. Calvin has gotten pretty good with the hammer. He does all his own hammering. The only problem is that he gets distracted fairly easily. Sometimes he gets so caught up in what's going on around him, he forgets what he's doing. Unfortunately, he does not stop hammering. That generally makes for some sore fingers on my part! But when he keeps focused, he is pretty good. I really think it is a great thing to get kids interested in building. Even if they don't do a whole lot, they really feel like they've built it themselves. They are so proud of their creations. They love to get the patches and have me sew them on the aprons. Calvin has a box that he keeps all his Lowe's projects in, to keep them safe. They really get into it.