I got caught by the after-Christmas sales and ended up with a workbench for the grandkids that required “some assembly”. That is, it came as collection of unconnected boards flat in a box. My husband, delight that he is, volunteered to put it together.
We decided to make it a project for him and our 4 year old granddaughter, and this is where the magic happened. We had her at our house for the afternoon with nothing much planned so the timing was perfect. My husband set to work always giving her tasks that she could handle; soaping screws, holding the other end of a board, lining up holes, handing him boards that luckily were each labeled with a letter. And in between helping she would pound with her toy hammer on boards that weren’t being used yet “getting them ready”. They joked and they laughed and after two hours they had completed the work bench.
She had a lovely afternoon and a great sense of accomplishment. She could hardly wait for her young cousin to come over to use the toy that she had made.
Just being there–an important parenting technique.
I loved it!!!!