Wood Building Kits for Kids

Does your child show an interest in what Dad is building in the garage? Or does he just love to create things out of his construction sets? It may be time to get him one of these wood building kits for kids.

Before graduating to using real tools to build wood items, it's a good idea to help your child build confidence and develop critical thinking by introducing him to small projects that come in kits with complete instructions. The pieces of wood are pre-cut and all other necessary accessories are included in the kit. The wood may be finished or unfinished and the pieces can be put together with child-sized hand tools, glue, or just stacked in different configurations to create some amazing contraptions.

Younger kids will need adult supervision but it's a great way to get in some quality parent-child bonding time. Older kids will learn how to follow instructions properly to be able to build cool complex structures.

Wood building kits also make great inexpensive gifts for kids of all ages and skill levels. The following kits are some of the top rated ones on Amazon.

Birdhouses are very popular first time wood crafting project items. Since kids love birds, it's natural for them to want to take care of them when they visit your garden. Birdhouses made of made from redwood, cedar or a good plywood are perfect because they are decay-resistant, durable and weatherproof.

Many birdhouse kits come with everything pre-cut and all you have to do is put the pieces together and paint it if you want. In order to make it extra long lasting, consider gluing the pieces together and then nailing them in a few places. Both these activities can be done by kids as young as 5-6 with a little help from a parent.

This 5.5" X 7" X 7" birdhouse kit comes with all the necessary wooden pieces and plastic plugs to put them together, plus 6 paint colors and a paintbrush for the child to pretty it up. Gluing and nailing the pieces together is recommended for long lasting use so an adult will have to help young kids.

Melissa & Doug is a well known brand for wooden toys so this 1.5 x 7.5 x 12.5 inch birdhouse kit is a safe bet. In addition to the wood pieces, it also contains the screws needed to build the house, 4 colors and a paintbrush. If your child has her own kid-sized tool set, this would be a good project for her to use a screwdriver on. After building it, she can paint the pattern that's on the front or do the whole house if she wants to.

Making a catapult or trebuchet involves learning a few simple physics concepts like lever and pulley mechanisms along with geometry principles as well. When your child has friends over, they can get together to build it and then pretend they're in a medieval setting while playing with it!

By using a kit with instructions on how to build it, a child of around 12 years will find these science principles fascinating and have fun with the finished toy afterward. Younger children will also find this to be a fun project to do with their parents.

Leonardo Da Vinci redesigned the medieval model of a catapult by using the spring action of bent wood to fling balls in a trajectory using a swing arm.

This catapult kit is a fully functional model of the Da Vinci catapult and in addition to be a great toy, it can also be used as a hand on teaching aid in the classroom while demonstrating science principles. Kids can also learn about historical warfare and construction methods.

This kit also includes soft clay balls that can be flung up to 15 feet in the air. The included instructions are detailed and clear, so kids will be challenged by the project but won't get frustrated either.

This another form of ancient catapult - the trebuchet. Beginner model makers will find the instructions easy to follow and the pre-cut pieces easy to assemble using the provided glue.

This type of catapult has a leather pouch from which the soft clay ball is hurled, and a wooden box that holds the weights that provide the balance. The pieces are pre-cut with the joints aligned for a strong connection.

This kit is suitable for kids 10 years and older.

While catapults are machines from the ancient world, hydraulic machines are much newer. This kit is meant to introduce hydraulics and simple machinery to kids in the form of model sized construction machines.

The kit includes instructions, glue and all the pre-cut wooden and plastic pieces that make up an excavator, platform lifter, cherry picker and scissor lift. Instead of hydraulic fluid, these working machines use water to work. No batteries are needed. This toy is suitable for ages 8 years and up.

Making models is always fun for kids of all ages and wooden models are even better because the building often involves fine tuning the alignment and sizing of pieces. Children can take pride in their work when the model is done and they can keep adding to a growing collection because they are usually quite inexpensive.

Red Toolbox has a growing fan following of young carpenters who love to use their own kid-sized tools to create small wooden models. This racing car is one of many of their wood kits for kids to build.

The kit comes with pre-cut pieces, nails, glue, a file and rubberized wheels that protect against surface scratches.

Younger kids will need help with the carpentry, but older kids can build the models on their own. The surface of the car can be painted after building it or left as is.

wood kits for kids to build

These 9 assorted wood craft items are designed for kids as young as 7 years. The kit contains all the necessary pieces and instructions for each model, but the glue that is need to put them together is not included. The wood can also be painted or left as is.

This is a good toy to keep kids occupied for many days as you can give them 1 toy from the kit at a time.

Sometimes, kids don't even need to assemble wooden toys to learn about engineering and science concepts. If you give them an open ended toy with a lot of pieces, they can create anything within their imagination and can experiment on what works and what doesn't. Wooden planks or logs can be stacked in numerous configurations, providing lots of hours of fun.

The classic marble run maze is well executed with this wooden set. Kids above the age of 5 can build elaborate mazes and then watch a marble enter a maze from one end and come out the other. This tests the child's puzzle solving and building skills as she has to make sure that the marbles have a clear run all the way through.

The set includes 10 marbles and 60 pieces of wood in varying sizes and shapes with grooves and holes drilled into them.

This is a classic building game, where one or more players take turns stacking objects to build a structure and keep it from collapsing.

Kids can use the included idea booklet to create buildings and monuments of all shapes and sizes while challenging themselves to make them more and more complex without toppling them over. It is a good step up for kids 7 years or older from playing with basic wooden building blocks.

There are 200 simple planks, so kids can be as creative as the wish.