IKEA: Real furniture kids can build

From the Obvious department:

IKEA recently came to Portland. Cause for city-wide celebration! Free child care! Swedish meatballs for less than a buck! And (oh yeah) cool, cheap furniture!

But there's more. My almost eight year-old son is always looking for nails to hammer, screws to turn, and things to assemble. Usually this means he's pounding nails into scrap wood in the garage, but now, he can build REAL furniture that we can actually use.

IKEA's graphic instructions are easy for kids to follow (think LEGO construction manuals), tool requirements are minimal, and the design is generally smart and efficient. I think there's no better place for children's furniture, so your kid can build stuff for her room. And if there's a mess-up, it's not too expensive to fix.

We had a great time last weekend building a new kitchen table, and his pride in his workmanship is obvious each time he sits down to eat.

Any IKEA stories to share? Favorite products? Unconventional uses?

P. S.: Don't miss IKEA Hacker.

Related: IKEA instructions as coloring books

Comments

[Serena]

My son (2 and change) helped me put together his table and chairs from Ikea (he put in the screws, and we screwed them in together).
He was very proud, and it was more fun (although took much longer) than doing it myself.

He is fairly mechanically minded and has known how to use a screwdriver for the past six months or so. (For example, he can use it on his own to remove a screw for changing batteries - no I did not teach him this, he is VERY independent minded and insisted on trying to do it himself - and then succeeded)

Can't wait till I can have him fix things around the house ;-)

[Michael - Family Hack]

Our six year old recently helped me put together her new IKEA dresser. She loves that we "built it" togethter and as mentioned every day since.

Speaking of IKEA, we recently bought the best damned food storage containers known to mankind. They are bliss. So good in fact that we'll be doing a post explaining their magical hidden powers. Really! They are plastic hunks of perfection. In the meantime, here are some links to them on IKEA.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60066724
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70066714

Michael
http://www.familyhack.com

[Abel]

It's a cool idea putting up furniture with kids. My kids are still too young to venture into this but it's good that we teach kids simple DIY techniques. Geez, I have friends (mind you adults) who don't know how to screw or unscrew!

[kittenpie]

Ours also loves playing in their kids section. They have a lot of their toys out for display and trying out by kids, and it's all fun and bright and kid-sized. She didn't even want to leave to go have meatballs!

[MikeHardly]

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.

Baby Furniture

[MikeHardly]

Children are our most valuable natural resource.

Baby Furniture