Family Fun at Home Depot

So we decided to get out and explore since we saw something, both free, and creative after all this snow and mess we have had on and off since January.  The princess is a budding crafter/artist and of course I wanted to let her explore it even more.  

Home depot has these free kid workshop sign ups and I decided to let her test out one this past Saturday to make a Trojan horse bank.   They were offering this kit to go along with the release of Mr. Peabody and Sherman movie and how they explore history.  I love piggy banks, and I was excited to see just exactly what it looked like.  I signed up online, and when Saturday was here, we were up early and heading out.

This one went from 9 am until 12 noon, and we were there about 8:45 am.  We went in and asked the front desk about where it was going to be held and off we went.  Our local store was having the workshop in the garden center.  BIG MISTAKE!!!  Since I had time, of course I wandered the bulbs, seeds, and plants, and after we were done with making our bank, I just HAD to have a couple of plants to go home with me.  For the most part I was good, but there were some neon colored catuses, cacti? that called, more like SCREAMED my name to take them home. But back to the workshop.   

They had set up plywood as tables and the seats were 5 gallon buckets turned upside down, so the perfect height for small ones.  We were one of the first ones there, and I recommend getting their early because it is first come, first serve, but you don't have to get there at the opening of the store and wait around.  They gave the princess a kit, and she got to choose an apron and we could sit anywhere.  They also gave out pins with Mr. Peabody and Sherman on it.  The website also mentions a certificate of achievement, but we didn't get one of those, but they may have forgotten because we were there at the begining when they were still kind of setting up.  We sat down and opened up our kit and started reading through the directions.  Each store has staff there to help if needed, and the tools to make the kits are provided.  With a little direction, the princess was going at it with no problem at all.  

She got to hammer in nails.  I was proud, she didn't hammer her aunt's fingers while she hold the nails steady to show her how to do it properly.  I had wondered if the kit would be super cheap, but it really wasn't.  It was wood, and press board with nails, screws, and stickers for the outside decorations. 

She got to screw on the bottom of the bank, that way she can take the money back out of the bank without having to break it.  Sometimes a steady hand can help them be really successful and feel like they are doing a really good job.  She also screwed on the wheels, and then hammered the sides onto the bank.  Voila, a bank was ready for decorating.

After it was assembled, she put the stickers on the sides to make it look like the Trojan horse.  The wheels really move and it does roll.  The directions were really simple to follow and there were kids there building who were much younger than my 8 year old princess.  The parents can help the child build, or the child can work on it as well.  It is really a good teaching opportunity to teach following directions, and building as well. 

After that she painted it as well.  I think it would have been easier if we had painted the inside before the stickers maybe? but she was given the choice on a color, or colors to paint, as well as there were markers available to use to decorate if the child wanted to do that instead.  It could have been left like it was but my little princess wanted to get creative.  I immediately thought ok she was going to get pink paint, and possibly purple, but boy was I half wrong.  She came back with purple and blue!!!  Did not see that one coming at all.  

Once she had painted it, we cleaned up our area, and they offered us some wipes to let us clean our hands.  We let it dry a few minutes and put it in the trunk to completely dry before we let her play with it again.  When I asked if she had fun, she said she didn't just have fun, she had a BLAST.  I would totally recommend this to anyone with children.  It is a free, and very fun activity to do on a Saturday.  She walked away with an apron, pin, and bank for free and some new knowledge on how to use tools properly to build something as well.  The apron is not a cloth one, more of the papery kind of stuff but something she will get some more use out of.  The pin can be put on something to be collected because everytime they do a new workshop, they will get a new pin.  There were several children there who had been doing a lot of these already and the top of their aprons were full of pins and a couple of patches from previous workshops.  One of the best fun things to get out there and do with your kids and it is totally free!!!  What can beat that price?  

She had to have a picture taken with her bank.  I tried to get her to smile normal but she was in a silly mood and kept giving me this goofy face.  Next month they will be offering a workshop on making a bird feeder/bath and we will be there.  She is really excited to get to go back and make something again.  

http://workshops.homedepot.com/workshops/kids-workshops#  will show you what workshop is going on next.  I definitely recommend going.