We may only be in the early weeks of summer, but my boys are already getting a little stir-crazy. I’ve been making sure that we take lots of bike rides, enjoy plenty of outdoor play and do some fun crafts in the house every few days. But I’m always looking for other ways to keep my boys learning and occupied in warm weather.
So when I heard about the new Family Fun Projects video series from Lowe’s starring Mag Ruffman, I couldn’t wait to check it out. These DIY videos let kids construct fun items including a Beanbag Toss Game, a Chalkboard Table and a Princess Castle…with a little adult help and supervision, of course! Lowes sent me a $50 gift card so that I could try one of the projects for myself and so the boys and I decided to try making the adorable PVC Camp Stools. Since our annual camping trip is coming up in a few weeks, I knew these stools would come in handy!
We bought all the necessary materials at our local Lowe’s store and I was really pleased with how helpful the staff was and how easy it was to find the items we needed. We headed home with our supply of PVC pipe, duct tape and hardware and then got ready to build our stools.
While older children could cut the PVC pipe and drill the necessary holes for the stools with adult supervision, my boys were still a little young for that so Curtis prepped our materials for us by cutting the pipes to the proper lengths and drilling holes in the longer lengths of pipes. Then we sat down and started building!
Zackary was so intent on his work while he was building!
The boys had a lot of fun playing with the PVC pipes and elbows and Benjamin especially had a blast just putting them together in odd combinations. Zackary soon got to work creating rectangles of the pipes though and soon Benjamin wanted to do the same. Then I placed one rectangle inside the other and the boys pushed carriage bolts through the holes in the pipe to connect the two rectangles. They really liked putting on the washers and wing nuts to hold the bolts in place too!
With the frame complete, it was time to make the seat. The instructions recommended using landscape fabric or other cloth cut into a rectangle. Since I have lots of fabric scraps at home for sewing and crafting, I cut some of my scraps to the proper size. Then it was time to make the seats strong enough for little boys with the help of strips of colourful duct tape!
Benjamin needed a little help putting the tape on his fabric to make the seat, but he was still very proud of it when it was done!
Once the fabric had been completely covered with duct tape, I folded the ends over to create seams and reinforced them with more duct tape to ensure that the seats were nice and strong. Then we took the elbows off one end of the frame and slipped the seat into place. And with that, the stools were done! The boys had a great time testing them out and showing them off to their dad.
Lowes wants to give you the chance to get creative with your kids too so the company is very generously offering one lucky Mommy Kat and Kids reader a $50 Lowe’s gift card to try out one of the Lowe’s Family Fun Projects! To enter to win, just take a look at the episodes in the Lowe’s Family Fun Projects video series and leave a blog comment about what project you would want to make with your kids if you won!
Zackary and Benjamin with their finished camp stools. They were so proud of themselves!
My boys had a great time making the PVC Camp Stools and the best part is that not only did they get to enjoy a fun project, they also got a useful piece of furniture to use when they were done! If you’re looking for a great activity to keep your kids occupied that will help them develop some building skills and leave them with a new toy or piece of furniture when they’re done, check out this collection of videos and see which one catches your eye! Making something fun and useful is easy with a little help from Mag Ruffman and Lowe’s!
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i love the seat idea..
i like the seat idea
I would love to make the Princess Castle but knowing my daughter she would prefer the Chalk Table.
Chalkboard table or a laptop desk.
I think we would make the door signs. Some great ideas for sure in these videos.
silverneon2000 at yahoo dot com
My grandson LOVES playing with PVC piping just on his own, making his own creations.
Its a toss up between the chalk board table and the book sling.
The boys and I would make the lapdesk.
The chalkboard table looks neat.
I would choose to make the chalkboard table b/c my son loves to colour and often draws off of the page and onto the table.
I think my kids would like the how to make a princess castle of course.
How to make a lapdesk
The beanbag toss game.
I like the book sling,
I think the bean bag toss game would be a great idea to do, especially with all the grand-kids visiting1!
I love photography and my daughter is getting to be quite the avid picture taker too, so I think making the photo blocks would be a fun project for us.
bean bag
Ooh, the chalkboard table!
Its always a great to have an easily portable extra seat to bring along. its also fun to involve the kids in making it!
The book sling looks cool.
The princess castle would be my pick, but I think my kids would love the chalkboard table too.
This is a terrific contest, thanks! Really need a storage organizer for my closet, quite the mess!
I would make a Chalkboard Table!
How to Make Bedroom Door Signs
i think I would choose “How to build a lap desk. My youngest would love building it and of course using it! Thanks for the chance to win!
a lapdesk, it can possibly bring onto a car trip.
the chalkboard table
I would build a chalkboard table. What a great idea!
How to make a Hockey Net with PVC Pipe. I never thought it could be that easy.
My kids just went to Lowe’s and made a Kung Fu Panda spinning toy. They had a blast!
I would love the chalk board table very cute…like how the chalk holder is in the table!!
I would make the lap top desk
I love the chalkboard table.
the chalkboard table!
the hockey net
I like the princess castle project!!
the lapdesk
I would make the chalkboard table but without legs and put it up on the wall.
Definitely the How to Build a Princess Castle
Beanbag toss game. Good for us grown ups too.
How to build an art table
Photoblocks
The chalkboard table looks neat
Chalkboard table
I would like to build a Lapdesk
My boys would love to make the bedroom door signs for their new rooms.
How to Build a Chalkboard Table
chalk board table
I couldn’t get the videos to play but I’m a library technician so I’m interested in what the book sling might be. The kids would probably like door signs too.
a laptop desk
ontariohappychick at gmail dot com