My boys love to build, stack, create and destroy. At the ripe ages of 2 and 5, this year they will receive wooden building blocks as part of their Christmas present. This won’t be the end-all block set to hand down to their children, but rather a simple and low-grade starter set– but special nonetheless and absolutely useful for building. They will love these blocks and have many adventures with them.

This project will be simple in that all that is needed is two 6ft planks of ¾ inch thick whiteboard wood (a soft and smooth wood). I am using whiteboard because it is very inexpensive and when cutting each piece with my chop saw, the wood practically sands itself because the cut is so smooth (a huge time saver). My plan is to cut ¾ inch thick pieces ranging from 2-8 inches in length and then quickly sand each piece as needed to make sure to avoid splinters. My chop saw can only cut about 5 inches in length, so longer cuts will need to be accomplished with a band saw. I have already started this project and I have found that cutting all four sides of each block is a big advantage toward achieving flat ends and also saving time on sanding. When I am finished I expect to have 150-250 building blocks. This block set will then be housed in a “building block bag” (old pillow case with a tie).

Materials:
* two 6 ft planks of ¾ inch whiteboard wood.
* sandpaper

Tools:
* chop saw or band saw (make sure to be careful and use goggles)
* jigsaw if you want to get creative with curved designs

Cost:
* $4.00 for each piece of 6ft long wood.
* $1.50 for sand paper
* Free if you have used wood. Be cautious of used painted wood though due to the potential for lead-base paint.

Posted by rlsacto in ideas |