Clever Life Hacks For Parents You Wish You Would Have Seen Sooner
All parents want to see their kids happy and make great memories. As they will grow and become an adult, they will always remember that awesome fort you built together, or the amazing superhero lamp they had as kids. But it not easy being a parent, juggling a job, work around the house, cooking and playing with the kid or kids. We know it’s exhausting, but here are some life hacks to make your life easy, keep the kids entertained and happy. At the end, it will also be fun for you!
20. Frame Colors and Textures
Who doesn’t need help with the kids? You’re lucky we’ve got your back with these next life hacks.
Let’s start with the toddlers that love to stick their hands in the weirdest things ever. They like to discover textures, and it’s easy to keep them occupied, safe and clean with this idea. You’ll need some plastic frames and textiles of different colors, patterns, and material.
19. Car Track in the Backyard
A perfect corner of your garden shaded by the trees should have this awesome car track that will keep the kids entertained for hours! You only need sand, gray bricks, some outdoor paint for the lines on the road and decoration like pebbles, plants, wooden blocks, and so on. You can ask your kid to decorate as they wish!
18. The Little Artist
Tired of washing the walls and removing crayon marks from everywhere? Try this framed roll of wrapping paper, and you’ll save yourself the cleaning! Use heavy duty closet rod shelf brackets and secure them into studs. Also get a door rug under the frame so that all the scribbles or paint won’t end up on the floor. Talking about painting, check this art easel at #14!
17. Faux Cacti
Teach your young kids to sew with this adorable idea. And what’s best is that these pots make for great faux flowers in the kids’ bedroom. Look for green socks and start crafting! Have your kids paint the pots in fun colors and start stitching and stuffing the cacti, then place them in the pot. Add stuffing around them if they don’t fit snugly.
16. Best Soap Ever!
Impress the kids with a bar of soap like this to make them wash their hands more often. The prize is the toy inside, whatever you choose. However, this idea is better for older kids that don’t put toys into their mouths! If you’ve done soap before, you can try this idea.
15. Picnic Sandbox Combo
The best addition to your backyard in the playground area is this combo of picnic table and sandbox. Serve lunch on the table and then take off the lid and TA-DA! – Playtime! Use pallets to save money and get this awesome combo for the price of one, also saving space.
We’d love one too!
14. The Art Easel
Kids that love to draw outside or play games that involve drawing will be so excited to use this art easel. It’s made from four pieces of construction lumber and trim. The “canvas” is made from acrylic and can be easily wiped with water as long as you use water-based paints.
13. Store Those Cars
For kids, there’s no such thing as too many Hot Wheels or Matchbox cars, so instead of placing them in crates, create an awesome garage that looks great in the play room. Plus, you can ask the kid to clean after he plays by parking his cars! You only need a wooden crate, mailing tubes, and a poster board to glue on the back of the tubes. Glue them all together, and that’s it!
12. Best Lamp Ever
Grab a bunch of plastic action figures, white spray paint, and golden or silver spray paint. Get a tube of E6000 glue, a lamp, and start gluing figures – the bigger ones on the base. Use a rubber band to keep them in one place and let them rest overnight. The next day start adding two coats of white paint and then two of the metallic one – 1 hour between each coat.
11. Magnetic Slime
We love magnets as adults, so imagine the kids when they see a magnetic slime! You can do this slime with the older kids, and it only takes a minute to make it! Use a bottle of school glue, 3 tbsp of magnetic powder and about 4 oz of liquid starch. Combine the glue with the powder then add small amounts of the liquid starch and start kneading. Give kids magnets and let the fun begin!
10. Backyard Chalkboard
A great way to have kids play outside is to make a backyard chalkboard. Use a wooden door and paint it with chalkboard paint in a couple of coats. Let it dry and prop it on cinderblocks against a wall. You can also screw it into a wall.
9. A Reading Nook
Make a reading nook for the little kid where they can cuddle with a huge teddy bear and read or nap. It looks like a piece of a fairy tale! You only need four curtains, a spool of ribbon, an embroidery hoop, and a ceiling hook.
Next to it, you can add a bookcase on wheels – #2, and some seats like this one…
8. Kids’ Seats
Get some old tires, wash them and spray paint it in whatever colors you want – you’ll need about three coats of paint with an hour in between. Seal and prevent the paint from scratching by using at least a layer of varnish. Use MDF circle pieces and cover them with a lot of stuffing. Add fabric, fold the edges, and staple it underneath with a staple gun.
7. Homemade Playdough
You’ll need a cup of flour, a cup of water and two teaspoons cream of tartar. You’ll also need 1/3 cup salt, a tablespoon vegetable oil or canola oil and any food coloring you have. Get them in a pan and start cooking until it gets hard. Let it cool and knead it for a minute and that’s it!
6. Lego!
If your kid loves having a ton of Lego, place his construction materials in see-through plastic drawers on wheels and add a long board over them. You can have three drawers, and the one in the middle can be removed to make room for seating. Flip over the table for a writing surface!
5. Chore Charts
These magnetic cookie sheets are perfect for creating lists and for busy parents – chore charts! Whoever completes chores and get to the finish point, will receive a reward: go camping, go on a trip, you name it! Spray paint the cookie sheets, print out some chore charts and the progress chart, laminate and cut them before gluing them to magnets.
4. Cardboard Fort
There’s nothing better than a fort! If you have a ton of cardboard, make one of these awesome hideouts! It will take a lot of time to cut, glue, and tape, but it’s easy! Cut triangles and square – also leaving some space for the flaps, fold the flaps and glue them together. Once you’re done with the assembly and taping, add stuffed animals and kids!
3. Graawwr Bookends!
Get some plastic dinosaurs or old plastic monsters, cut them in two and glue them to pallet wood. Paint them all in light colored coats with 10 minutes drying time between the coats, and you’ve got yourself awesome bookends. The more, the funnier!
2. Wheelie Awesome Bookshelf
Isn’t this a wheelie awesome bookshelf? If you love to read, or your kids likes to carry their books or coloring books all around the room, get modular furniture, add funky colored wheels to a couple of them and voila – bookshelves on wheels!
1. Best Pencil Holder!
Don’t throw away your old colored shampoo bottles when you can cut them and make them look like adorable – ahem… creepy monsters! Maybe it will make the kids more excited about homework? Or make them feed the monsters with pencils – to clean the working space!