Build! Create! Get Messy!

Our adventure of the day took us to Wooden Toys and Crafts, a place where we could build, create and get messy!  We had not been before, but heard from a few of our dear friends that it was certainly a fabulous place, and one worth checking out.  So, we bundled up and headed out with this as the destination of our morning adventure.

Mr. Bob's workshop is full of toys that children can build and paint.  It's incredible how many projects there are to choose from!  There are things just to paint, or things to build and paint.  You can either work there or take the item home with you and create it later on.  We however, chose to work there.  After all, you can't pass up the chance to work in a workshop like that!  Once the girls had decided which projects they wanted to make Mr. Bob (as we called him) helped us get all set up. The girls quickly got to work:

The shelves contain baggies of each project they have available.  It's amazing how much there is to choose from, and a little overwhelming the first time you visit!

Each of these bins are filled with various parts.  Emma was in heaven as soon as she saw the vast amount of things in each of them!

Mr. Bob had explained to us how to assemble the spin tops we chose as our building project of the day. However, he must have quickly realized that this was the first time we'd worked with a hammer (or it was obvious that this mama has been out of woodshop class a very long time) and came over to provide some tips and guidance on how to teach littles to use hammers.

Checking the top out to make sure it works.  Great work, Em!

It took a little encouraging for Grace to use some force to hit the hammer hard enough to get the pieces to join, but once she did the goal was quickly achieved!

Painting the tops.

After the girls were done painting their spin tops, one at a time they came with me to choose a project to bring home to make for the others Christmas gift. It is the first year that the girls are choosing gifts for each other, and rather than take them to a store we felt it would be great if they made their gifts for each other.  Someday, I would love for our family to make each others Christmas gifts instead of purchasing them, but for now we'll simply start with the girls making gifts for each other.

What a wonderful way to spend a morning and a great way to introduce the girls to building and creating wooden toys!  There are certainly more trips to visit Mr. Bob and his wonderful workshop in our future!