Child-led Projects

Birdhouse project

If your kids are anything like mine I bet you have stacks of beautiful artwork from them stored in your house. Mine draw every day and are always coming up with great ideas. Mostly these ideas stay on the paper, but sometimes they end up coming to life.

A little while ago my 5 year old drew this picture of a birdhouse, accompanied by a note… ‘Dear Daddy, can you make this birdhouse tomorrow?’.

Kids Birdhouse Project | Happiness is here

She also made a list of things we would need for the birds and things that birds like (apparently they like balloons).

Kids Birdhouse Project | Happiness is here

She even went as far as drawing a picture of our car with some paint in the back because she wanted to go to the shops to get some paint for it.

Kids Birdhouse Project | Happiness is here

And so I thought why not? We should definitely try and make her ideas reality! That weekend her and her dad went out to the garage to get started.

Kids Birdhouse Project | Happiness is here

She explained to him exactly how she wanted it to look, and they did the whole thing together.

Kids Birdhouse Project | Happiness is here

She was so happy that it turned out just how she had wanted it. I had imagined a smaller birdhouse myself, but it wasn’t about my vision.

Kids Birdhouse Project | Happiness is hereAfter it was made, it was time for some paint.

Kids Birdhouse Project | Happiness is hereLittle sister was happy to help with this part. They painted it the most beautiful colours.

Kids Birdhouse Project | Happiness is here

Lastly, a sign to let the birds know they could visit.

Kids Birdhouse Project | Happiness is here

Isn’t it beautiful? We put it out into the garden ready for the birds to discover.

Kids Birdhouse Project | Happiness is hereIt was beautiful for me to see the pride on her face and the sense of accomplishment she got from seeing one of her ideas through from start to finish. Something we will definitely be doing more of in the future!

Comments

Jess - Memoirs of a Childhood
September 10, 2014 at 9:35 pm

I love this so much!! Beautiful process.



September 10, 2014 at 9:55 pm

How lovely! I can’t wait to try out projects like this when my little one is bigger.



September 10, 2014 at 11:41 pm

so incredibly beautiful!! this actually brought tears to my eyes imagining how immensely proud your daughter was of the final product. so awesome!



September 12, 2014 at 7:55 am

Sooo love this! I love the planning and construction and that beautiful painting too! So, so special!





September 14, 2014 at 6:20 am

Aw wow, how beautiful!
I bet it was such a great bonding experience too & that the little one had heaps of fun!
I’m currently in the middle of building a R-Bot (robot) with my little one out of cardboard boxes, must say that its a bigger task than I thought!
Love your blog!



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