by Katie and Gene Hamilton.  A good source for projects that parents and kids can build together. Available from Amazon.

This wooden crane project has quite a few parts, but makes a very cool toy for kids and has a few challenges for young woodworkers, but nothing that can not be done a little at a time.

The plans are included.

This project is easy and combines a bit of simple woodworking with drawing or painting.

The only bit I can add to making these concentration tiles would be to draw tools on them as the subjects.

Tip: If you use cedar, then the tiles can be used as coasters when your child outgrows the concentration game.

When a toy is made of wood in the shop and is a replica of a tool, then it is a good project for everyone involved.

Here is a nice example of a wooden toy hand plane patterned after a Stanley No 3.

Quick & Easy Woodworking: 28 Fun Projects to Start and Finish in a Day or Less is a nice set of projects that are useful and realistic.  The book is intended for new woodworkers, but it also lends itself well to projects that woodworkers of any skill level could do with their kids.

What I like is that the projects are not only skill appropriate, they are real and usable.  Kids can often pick up on if they are doing a project that made up just for pretend, or dumbed down for kids.  These are functional and will be a big source of family pride because the results can be used ever day.

Steve Good of the Scrollsaw Workshop has some fantastic plans for cars, planes, trucks and other toys for kids.  These could be made with a powered scrollsaw or with a fret or coping saw.

Here a list of the plans that I found suitable for doing with kids.

• Toy Biplane
• Car Carrier Truck with Car
• Animal Clocks
• Animal Puzzles
• Spinning Top
• Rubber Band Race Car

He graciously makes available a huge collection of other patterns as well.  They can be found here.  Steve is the author of some interesting pattern designing software that is definitely worth using if you and your kids get hooked on scrollsawing together.

This nice little project is fun because the boomerangs are easy to make and when you are done, you can get the kids outside and running around.  These great videos cover all the aspects of building them.

And don’t worry, even though the video shows a bandsaw and electric sander, you can do this just as fast with handtools so the kids can do everything.

Supplies

• 2 Large 5-gal Paint Stir Sticks
• Wood Glue
• Paint (optional)

Tools

• Crosscut saw (fine teeth)
• sandpaper
• clamps
• rasp and or wood file
• pencil

Link to Video #1

Link to Video #2

Link to Video #3

Link to Video #4

Boy Mechanic Vol 1&2 are a great collection of homemade toys and tools from the early 20th century.   There is a wealth of fun things to be made with kids.

Mousetrap powered race cars are a fun way to combine woodworking with other materials to make cars that are a lot of fun.  Learning about work and energy at the same time is just an added bonus.  The book Mousetrap Racers: Complete Builder’s Manual takes a lot of the frustration and guesswork out of it.

The Great Book of Wooden Toys is full of over 50 projects for building wooden toys like planes and cars and trucks.

Making Furniture & Dollhouses for American Girl Dolls is a book that teaches you to make dollhouses and furniture for the popular American Girl Dolls or other 18″ dolls.  This can be a great way to build a girl’s interest in woodworking.  The scale is not too delicate for small hands.

A Treehouse is really the ultimate woodworking project for a kid.  It literally involves constructing a space that is THEIRS.  This book makes a great start to the build:  Build Your Own Fantasy Treehouse. Summer is half over, time to get to it.

Zany Wooden Toys That Whiz, Spin, Pop and Fly is a book that has a whole collection of fun action related wooden toys.  The plans are pretty simple and yet there is nothing simple about the cleverness of them.  A lot of fun to read, and even more fun to build.  I find they also inspire creative thinking as kids contemplate merging one design with another.

A common project to build with kids in a woodshop is a bird house or feeder.   Designs can be simple or complex.  Many adults tend to underestimate the project and just wing it.  What I have found is that trying to think and design a project while building it with a child in the shop is harder than it sounds.  There are enough distractions with a child in the shop that it makes it difficult to think about all the subtle nuances of a design.

My suggestion is to either plan and design it before setting foot in the shop, or better yet, let your child shape the design by choosing a pattern from many tried and true birdhouse designs from the book Easy to Build Birdhouses, A Natural Approach.

This book not only does a great job with presenting plans and designs, it also addresses wood and finish choices that are bird safe.  It really is a great book for teaching kids how to take multiple aspects into consideration of a plan.

These old entertainment centers seem to appear on curbs pretty regularly.  Here are some examples of creative parents who turned them from landfill-bound to cute kitchen play centers with a little clever woodworking.

from Kellie and Her Kiddie Kaliope

from Sutton Grace