Wood Stacker Toy DIY

This is such a fun DIY today!  It’s something that is super inexpensive and makes a great gift.

My mom always tells stories about when we kids were little and she had literally no money.  My dad was a public school math teacher and my mom stayed home with all four kids and she was able to DIY toys for us to help provide.  She was so excited to watch us open our Christmas presents and see us play with our new homemade doll dresses (made from her old clothing) or a stick horse she adorned with tassels from her old boots.  I give my mom a hard time.  a lot.  But in actuality, I am like her in many ways….and wish I could be MORE like her.  Especially when it comes to creativity.  That woman can’t help ooze creativity.

So this project today I should dedicate to her.  I wanted to create a little stacking toy out of old scraps and it’s super easy.

You will need five stacking blocks.  We used 2×6’s cut to 5 1/2″ (that makes them square).  Sand the whole thing down really well.  Then drill holes in the middle of FOUR blocks for the dowel rod with a 3/4″ bit.  You can also drill holes randomly in each of those four blocks so the kids can practice balancing the blocks or finding the center hole.  That will make sense later.  The last block is the base and it also gets a center hole but this one is only 5/8″ so that the dowel is a tight fit.

Each block was sanded smooth and spray painted a different color in Rust-Oleum’s spray paint – Navy Blue,  Seaside, Key Lime, Ocean Mist, and White.  Once everything is painted, use a soft mallet to knock the dowel (mine was 5/8″ size cut to 6 3/4″) into the base hole.  It should be really tight and hold it in place.  Then let the stacking begin!

The best part about having those random holes is that the kids can create different combinations and figure out how to make the structure balance.  My boys LOVE balancing and stacking and so this was the perfect little craft for them.

Now get to creating.  I vote we all make everything we give our kids this Christmas.  Oh kidding.  There is no way I can sew a remote control car  But still….that would be really awesome right?  Maybe one year.  Like when my kids say that all they want for Christmas is pajama pants and pillow cases.  #neverhappening  I would totally do it though when they are 16 and completely spoiled and bratty.  Oh your friend got the new iPhone 64 plus asterisk……congrats you got a homemade pallet sign that says “Unpopular”  Merry Christmas!