Monday, February 18, 2013

busy board...

I am so not ready for another week to start, but now that's its' Monday, 
I don't really have much of a choice right?!
But I am super excited to share with you our newest little project.
B U S Y   B O A R D !
what the heck is a busy board?!
My thoughts exactly when I heard about them.
The best description...it's a board, with stuff on it!
I know, seems/sounds super lame right?! WRONG!
Its a board, with cool stuff on it, to help with fine motor skills, and to [try] and keep the little ones "busy" for more than a few minutes.

Like this...
I L@VE this one!  Homemade busy board for fine motor skill development (Tip from me: for bigger kids use more difficult attachments, that make them think first on how it works...What do you need to open...Like the lock needs a key, where is it between the other keys and which one fits?  Good Luck :-)
or this...
or even this...
Busy board for kids.
via Pinterest 
I've been seeing these "busy boards" floating around Pinterest and etsy lately and there was no way I was going to pay someone to make one, so the husband and I went to work!
Now, before we begin, this was by no means a "cheap/inexpensive" project, so don't go in thinking this is going to be a $5, 5 minute, project like I did..."hardware" is expensive! But it's what my little guy loves, so I sucked up the price and just did it...and by the looks and sounds of things, Hudson is going to be entertained for more than a few seconds with this thing!

We went to Home Depot and browsed the hardware section...anything that flipped, latched, spun, opened, closed, or made a sound...I think we bought it. 

I found this 2 foot round piece of wood at Home Depot...already cut, and already smooth [which meant no sanding, so I was sold instantly!] for $7 - can't beat that!

[excuse the phone pictures!]
I decided to paint it black, well because I have a thing for black and Hudson doesn't care!
[I am incredibly impatient when it comes to paint, so out came the hair dryer!]

Things got a little messy, but I set everything out, placed it how I wanted, and got out the drill.
Carabiener
Light switch
Wheel
Hooks
Combination lock
Small Peg Board [nails and rubber bands]
A few different types of locks
[Door Chain, Sash Lock, door Security Guard, Barrel Bolt,] 
the light switches were the hardest, and I didn't even know where to begin, so out came the hubby to drill out holes in the board to let the light switches sit flat on the board.
Okay, so it's not all finished but I couldn't want to put it on the blog. 
I will be putting a little door, with a hinge, and knob at the top for Hudson to open.
But here is the [semi] finished project!
I love it.
Hudson loves it. 
My sanity loves it.
And it was all completely worth it!

Can't wait to see the little "door" on the top, to make it complete!




7 comments:

  1. I was like "what's a busy board?" when I started this post and "WE NEED A BUSY BOARRRRRRRD!" by the end, haha! This is so awesome! Can't wait to hear how he likes it.

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  2. So fun! I have a few pinned too and keep thinking we need to this! My kids have little tool boxes filled with random stuff and they love them! Amazing what can keep little ones occupied!

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  3. LOVE IT! I can see that I will be making one of these for Peanut. Can't wait to hear how yours like it.

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  4. Neat!

    Hope you'll check out my site, too :)

    http://therealfoodrunner.blogspot.com

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  5. It turned out great ... I saw some of your pics on Instagram tonight ... These are such great sensory tools.

    ¤´¨)
    ¸.•*´
    (¸¤ Lanaya | xoxo
    www.raising-reagan.com

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  6. So cute! I saw something like that on Pinterest and love how yours turned out!


    www.studentswife.com

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I love reading every single one of your comments!