Children are great helpers when it comes to home renovations from a very young age, as they can be easy to lead by example, such as with painting or hammering away alongside you. There are also many household chores that young children can help with.
There are plenty of great reasons to involve your children in a home renovation project. If you follow these steps and keep safety in mind at all times, it will be a fun and rewarding experience for the entire family. Plus, you will have a better renovation if you can add your children’s personal touch, too.
If you have a larger home renovation project in mind, such as having new siding installed on your house, consider building a small clubhouse, playhouse, or tiny home. Not only will this give your children a fun place to play and spend time with their friends, but it can also be an essential part of the renovation process that they can take pride in.
Another project that your children might enjoy is helping you install window awnings above doors and windows, as the installation process is easy for them to understand. You can purchase ready-made awnings or have custom ones made. Either way, consider choosing patterns that are specific to your child’s interests.
It’s easy to find local awning businesses for these types of projects, so you might want to consider finding one in your local area beforehand. That said, here are five fun ways that you can involve your little ones in a home renovation project:
1. Painting
You can start your children’s first paint job by dipping their hands in a small amount of paint and letting them make a handprint on a piece of paper or cardboard. Another great painting opportunity is creating a mural on the wall. These types of paintings usually require more patience and time but are worth it.
However, if your children are of an age where they are likely to get paint everywhere, having them paint the inside of a cupboard door will give you easy access for future touch-ups. So instead of finishing the entire room, you could start by painting one wall. Make it a goal to finish that one wall together.
2. Hanging pictures
Hanging pictures is a straightforward task, and most kids like to be involved in decorating their room with family portraits or favorite characters or items. Help them measure where you want each hook to go; if your children want to help hold the picture up while you make sure it’s level, go for it.
Of course, make sure that they are not in any danger of falling with the way you position them. If they like to draw with pencils, you can always ask them to help hold the picture up while you drill holes for nails instead.
3. Cleaning
All kids love to help clean around the house, so allow them to help you. You can have your children put their toys away after playing with them or quickly wipe up that spill on the floor before it stains. Remember that anything involving water should be monitored carefully during a home renovation.
Once the kids are old enough to help out without supervision, you can trust them to take care of certain aspects of house cleaning on their own. Make sure they follow safety rules and only use safe cleaners.
4. Making signs
For big renovation projects that require professional installation or demo work, your children can be a big help by making signs to hang everywhere. They can make a fun “Do Not Enter” sign for the room where the work is happening or take pictures of tools and note what kind they should not touch.
But make sure to double-check with the professionals about what is safe for your children to touch. You would not want them to get hurt. This way, the sign will help keep them out of danger while still being a fun activity for them to be involved in.
5. Celebrating at a kid-friendly restaurant
Once you’re done with the actual renovation itself, your kids will love it if you take them on a special outing to celebrate the new look of the house. Surely, there are plenty of kid-friendly restaurants in your area that will be happy to see little customers when you’re ready for lunch or dinner.
So you will not only be able to bond with your kids, but you will also get the opportunity to show off how good they were during the renovation process. If they are young, talk about how excited they were when you painted together or showed them their handprint on the wall. Remember that this is all about having fun with your children and making memories that you can all cherish forever.
