Busy Board for a Busy {birthday} Boy!
Today was our son Weston’s first birthday. I could gush and tell you all the typical mom speak that seems to spill out of the mouth of a proud mama but this post would be entirely too long and there are enough pictures I wanted to show you so I’ll spare you. Just know I love my son’s guts and I am so blessed to be his mommy.
If “idle hands are the devil’s playground” my son is ANGELIC. He is a boy in the utmost and he is always getting into stuff, so why not give him an outlet for all that investigative energy. I’ve seen some busy boards on Pinterest and from some Googling but the idea to do this was all my hubby. When you have 2 young kids already, there’s not really a need for toys. I try to buy clothes for the kids (on sale of course) 6 months – a year before hand to save money. So what do you get for a little boy who doesn’t need clothes or toys and who had his first Christmas just 2 weeks ago. A busy board!
I wanted it to be eye catching and more interesting than just bare wood. Black and yellow stripes seemed to do the trick. I used the wax paper image transfer technique from Unexpected Elegance to get my message across the top and then I just used a black Sharpie to fill in the letters and achieve the sharp message of : “Caution: Boy At Play”.
Between a trip to Lowes and going through random stuff we had around the house, we were able to pull together all the items you see here to keep those little hands busy, if even for a few minutes! Between everything we probably spent about $50 which pains me a bit to say, but I guarantee that between all 3 of my kiddos we’ll get our money’s worth.
This little thing came from a swag bag my husband picked up at a scuba diving convention. When you push the little button, a small LED light shines. To attach it to the board I just relied on my tube of trusty E-6000 glue (Love that stuff. It works so well and it’s super cheap. Less than $3 at Walmart). I just swapped out the message under the plastic and using my Silhouette machine, (squeeel! I’m still so excited I have one finally!!!!) I printed and then cut a piece of card stock to the exact dimensions including the rounded corners. It made me smile…
This latch was seriously my favorite. To be honest, I don’t know what it’s called, but the range of motion that the handle goes through in order to lock is what makes it a perfect addition to the board ‘o business.
Because we countersunk the light switches, that meant that they were sticking out of the back by about ½”, so to fix that problem, we took some spare pieces of 1×2 screwed into the back of the board and then through the board into the wall. We kinda liked the way the hardware added to the look.
I added a hidden message with some good old thumb tacks underneath one of the hinged boards.
My perspective.
Weston’s perspective (exaggerated just a bit).
The Hubbs and I “installed” the board during nap time and this was little man’s first introduction to it….yes, we took a million pictures (only in Florida can the baby take a nap in January in nothing but a diaper).
The door stopper was a last minute addition to the busy board plans and it has proven to be worth it’s weight in FUN. Like every baby I’ve ever known, the door stopper or the “boy-yoy-yoing thing” like we call it, is his favorite thing on the whole board!
Born just 1 day after my own birthday, there’s no one cuter who I’d let steal all MY birthday thunder than this guy. He is my {son}shine and snuggle buddy and I can’t imagine life without him. Happy 1st Birthday Weston!
Perfect 1st birthday gift!! Love the idea and execution. Weston seems to approve as well.
I love this idea and the little guy it was made for! Great job, Michelle!
Brilliant Idea! I love how masculine it is, this is going to really develop those fine motor skills…
Happy bday to you both! Weston is adorable! I saw the photo for your project on Pinterest and love it!! As the mom to 3 young men I know how much kids enjoy this kind of thing. Now I have 2 grandchildren, Aly will be 5 soon and Lukey just turned 1. Since my hubby works at a heating/plumbing/lumber store I think we could easily come up with our own version. Thanks for the inspiration! I’m sure your kids treasure their amazing busy board!
OMG I LOVE LOVE LOVE this, I saw it on Brisbane Kids. I so want to buy one from you as I so d0n’t have the skills to make it myself!
Dana, Mr. MillionAyres here. It’s about 50 x 60cm and weighs probably around 8-9kg. If we were to make one just like it, we would probably sell them for $100. I know it’s a lot, but the material cost is around $65 alone, plus time to make it. Shipping from Florida to Brisbane would probably cost quite a bit as well! Around $250! Might be better to find someone crafty nearby who can help you make one
What an adorable idea! Your son seems to think so too! I’m sure you double checked, but the springy door stopper thing – make sure the little rubber stopper doesn’t fall off – my son use to pull ours off on purpose! Yikes!
Oh, don’t I know it. I learned that with our first. Rest assured dear readers, everything is securely attached and/or glued in place. It’s cool, but NEVER worth risking my children’s lives on.
Love this for my little guy. I sent it to my husband so he can see it and make one for me!
But also in Texas can it be January and your kid in diapers playing outside in the water…
Very cute…looks like he’s having lots of fun! As an ER nurse though, it concerns me about the door stopper. The rubber piece on the end is a very common choking hazard and not recommended in houses with young kids. Maybe if you used some of that trusty glue to secure it? Just thought it should be mentioned
Heather, thank you, I should have mentioned it, the little cap is secured in place. Gotta love E-6000 super(amazing) glue!
I think my kiddos would like the door stopper best! Man, they play with them around the house ALL the time. =) Adorable idea!!
Love this idea! I had a thought of doing something like this for my little guy but I thought who lets their kid play with this stuff? But now seeing this, I’m wanting to do something for his 2nd birthday which also is going to be a construction theme! Thanks for the wonderful tips!
While this looks like a great play and learning tool, I don’t agree with the use of various types of locks! Think of the ramifications as the child learns how to use these, they can then open or get out of or in everything! The use of functional items that are more age appropriate would be much better! My knowledge comes from 26 yrs. of working in a classroom with 5 to 8 yr. old children!
Trish, to be honest I was on the fence about including certain locks. My 2 and 3 year old are already fully capable of opening and closing a locked door, and they never had a board like this. We enforce strict rules and consequences for breaking those rules when it comes to doors and overall safety.
Actually, just last week, our dear friend had their front door open to let in a breeze; he stepped outside to retrieve something and their 2 year old locked him out with the 6 month old still inside. He ran all around the house panicking trying to get back in all the while attempting to instruct his little girl on how to unlock the door. When you’re in a panic minutes seem like eternity. But I understand you concern regarding safety
I agree with Trish. As I read about the project, I thought it was wonderful. After finishing reading, the same thought came to me about teaching a young child how to use locks. This could be very harmful to teach children to use locks. You can certainly enforce rules in your home but just one time of breaking that rule could be very dangerous. I really like the board and would love one for my grandsons but one of them (a 1-1/2 yr old) would be out the house in no time at all. Probably with a little bit of thought, a creative mind could come up with some substitutions for the locks.
I so love this! We have a much smaller version from Melissa & Doug for my toddler.
I am cohosting a play based learning blog hop, would LOVE to see this linked up. If you get a chance to stop by that would be awesome! Here’s the link http://www.spectrumpsychological.net/1/post/2013/02/play-to-learn-february-blog-hop.html
I’m bookmarking M:illionayres. I’ll be back
This is such a cute and creative idea!! My husband would like to make something similar for our son, but we were curious if you could tell us the dimensions of the board that you used?
Julie,
we took a 2′ x 2′ panel of wood from Lowe’s and cut off about 5″ to 6″ along one side (we used those pieces for the hinged panels). Good luck!
Thanks so much!!
what an amazing thing to make!
Oh my goodness, I love your board! I want to make one for my daughter, I am so happy to see that your little guy at 1 enjoys this. I think my daughter would too for her first birthday! What a great idea with that door stopper thing, brilliant.
Such faun project. Just shows homemade is best!
What a cute little guy! I LOVE this idea!! My son is 3 months, looking forward to making this for him in the next few months!
Love it!!!! Did you paint the yellow and black stripes? Or how did you do it?
Luciana,
I did paint the stripes. I painted the entire board yellow and then masked offl lines for the black stripes.
Looking for something different for my little boy who will turn 1 as well… This is FANTASTIC! I couldn’t resist so your idea will help me to do this special gift… Awesome job, congrats!!! Thank you so much for sharing!!!
I LOVE THIS! My husband is on the floor right now making this for my busy man who turns 1 Thursday! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much for this great idea!! I have a rowdy little 2 1/2 year old boy and I know he’d love this!! I have included this in my Sunday Shares post for useful sites at http://www.doomestic.com Thank you so much!!
What is the actual board made out of? I love this idea and want to make it for my grandson!
I used a ½” 2′x 2′ piece of Birch plywood from Lowes.
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Thank you for posting this amazing idea! My sons 1st birthday is May 24th so I went out and bought all the supplies (under $40 at Wal-Mart) All I need now is some paint (I have the wood already). Again, thank you for such a great idea!