10 Interesting DIY Projects For Your Family

There are so many reasons why you should give DIY a try. As this pandemic that has defined our lives for the last year is starting to wind down, and we can start to heal from all of the loss it’s called, it’s worth thinking about what we’ve learned from it.

And if one thing is more clear than ever, it’s that good hobbies are essential for a healthy and fulfilled life. Having ways to maximize your free time that you can do when you’re at home is beneficial and it can ensure you rarely, if ever, feel lost or bored.

And DIY is the perfect one for that. Not only is it fun, but it’s active so it’s good exercise, it will help you to develop some really useful skills like focus and creative problem-solving, and when you see the results of your hard work, it’s super rewarding.

When you master some DIY skills, you can fix a lot of your own home issues and build some furniture, which will help you save money. And what’s more, anybody can practice DIY. You’re not limited by age, size or level of fitness.

This makes it the perfect hobby to practice with your family. Here’s some interesting DIY projects for the whole family to participate in.

1.   Bookshelf

A bookshelf is the perfect entry-level project for people practicing DIY because there’s nothing particularly complicated about it. You can make a big, fancy bookshelf if you want, but the true functionality of it doesn’t extend beyond storage for books.

It’s something that every house should have, and if your kids aren’t big into reading, having books lined up on a shelf that they actually helped build themselves might give them some encouragement to read a bit more.

You can do this in so many different ways. You can just build a regular standing set of shelves, you could make shelves that are fixed to the wall, or suspended from the ceiling. Any style or size you want and any method you think your family will be capable of.

2.   Birdhouse

Building a birdhouse will be a great DIY project, and will also give your kids an added appreciation for other creatures. Again, this can be a project that’s as simple as building a box with an entrance, or you can go a little bit more complex.

Don’t let the apparent simplicity fool you though, even if you are making a small one you need to be precise with cutting the boards so they’re the right size and you need to have the right size screws too. It will be a quick and straightforward project, but an easy one to mess up too.

3.   Toy Box

This is a project that every kid will be excited to make and I’m sure it will be great for the parents too who are getting stressed about the amount of toys strewn all over the floor. All you need here really is a box, but it’s a good one to get creative with.

You and your kids can customize it. If your kids like pirates, make it look like a treasure chest, if they like farm animals, make it look like a barn. And you can also paint it together in whatever style your kids might like. Let them run free with the paint, it’s their toy box at the end of the day.

4.   Treehouse

So now we’re looking at a bigger project. I would wait until you have kids that are maybe like 7-10 years old before you try this one. Treehouses come in all different shapes and sizes, but there are a few things you should consider before you start.

Trees are going to grow, and if you don’t want your treehouse to get destroyed over time you need to make sure you build it on one that’s already fully grown. Pick a good strong tree too but try not to bore too many holes. Just use it to support the house itself.

Remember, this while take a while, so you’re in this one for the long haul. Make sure you’re ready for that commitment before you start.

5.   Vegetable Garden

Gardening is quite similar to DIY and this particular project basically combines elements of both. The best way to do this is to build raised beds that you can then fill with soil. If you want this to be neat and compact, build one bed with separate sections that are separated by boards.

You don’t need any more than six inches for the soil and you should fill it up with a mixture of compost, topsoil and organic fertilizer. Only plant vegetables you will actually eat so that the project amounts to something beneficial.

6.   Paint a Room

A brand new paint job is a fantastic DIY project that your kids can participate in. Repainting rooms is something that you should probably do every 5 or 6 years anyway and your kids should have some input for their bedrooms and playrooms.

7.   Tree Swing

Can something so simple really bring a child so much joy? Of course it can, and it has done for centuries now. Aside from the fun of actually swinging, a tree swing is a great place to just sit and think while gently rocking.

The most difficult part about building a tree swing is picking the right location. You need a branch that’s more than 10 inches in diameter, that isn’t dead wood and is over open ground. You do this right, it can be a part of your home for generations to come.

8.   Garden Seating

In the summer, it’s always nice to spend as much time outside as possible as having some garden seating means that you can eat, read or just relax out there. You could buy expensive garden furniture of course, but you might as well just build your own.

All you’re going to be doing is sitting on it at the end of the day and a simple wooden bench is not a difficult project.

9.   Halloween Costumes

Much like gardening and its relationship to DIY, arts and crafts are also in a similar vein and making your own Halloween costume would give you the same sense of reward. You can make almost anything using different colored fabrics, adapting various items of clothing and building some homemade props from scratch.

10. Quilt

If you’ve got kids who are patient enough for it, then you can teach them the basics of knitting or crocheting and you can make an entire quilt, starting with just a ball of yarn and some knitting needles.

Once you’ve mastered the basics, you can work on doing different designs for the individual squares of the quilt to put something together that’s unique and personalized. 

DIY comes in many different forms and the amount of different projects out there for you to try is endless. Find the right projects to suit you and your kids and you too can enjoy this fun and rewarding hobby.

About The Author: Norma Spencer. Norma fully enjoys her editor career living an RV life with her family. She’s a devoted tech and finance writer with a Ph.D. in Business Administration (Management). At the moment of writing this bio, Norma is in Germany, planning to spend at least a few more years in Europe in the coming years as she has no choice atm 🙂

Photo by Brandon Couch on Unsplash