Do-It-Yourself Learning : Easy and Fun Activities from Everyday Home Center Materials

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Create engaging activities and toys from materials found at your local hardware store.

Learning through play is as natural and important for young children as breathing. With Do-It-Yourself Early Learning, you can create toys that help children become more confident, develop their intellect, and encourage play and exploration—all with materials easily found at your local hardware store or home center.

Written by two experienced family child care providers, this book explains the construction and use of a variety of engaging and kid-tested play props, equipment, and activities. Each of the activities is:

• affordable—the toys and activities won't strain your budget
• durable—with proper care, many of the items you make will last for years
• flexible— make toys to ....

fit your own curriculum
• available—all of the materials listed are easily purchased from one location—your local home center or hardware store
• fun—create memorable projects together that children will remember for years to come

Do-It-Yourself Early Learning also tells how you can aid skill development in key areas, including language and literacy, math and logical thinking, science, art, music and creative representation, initiative and social relationships, and physical skills.

"The Do-It-Yourself Early Learning guide by Jeff & Tasha Johnson has come to be the most important volume in my professional child care library. This past summer it become our guide to more fun, more learning, and most importantly ...exploration! In my care at this time were toddlers, preschoolers, and school aged children. I quickly saw an opportunity for learning for my school aged children. I asked them to review the book choosing items they would like to build. After reading and viewing the various options, they began writing up materials lists. As a team, we then headed to the nearest hardware store where we found and purchased our supplies. With supervision, they went about building their favorite projects in the book. I still remember the pride on their faces when their projections were completed. Some of their favorites were the car wash, the hinge and latch board, baby catapults, the pipe constructions set, the weaving loom, and bedtime for baby. Both my school aged children and I found the materials lists and directions easy to understand and use! I know my school-aged children have greatly benefited from this experience. Jeff and Tasha book and guide have allowed them to experience success and the means in which to give something back to the smaller children in my care. I can't think of a greater life's experience and lesson! I am extremely appreciative to Jeff and Tasha and look forward to the next volume being published!"
—Pamela Stefanich

I purchased Do It Yourself Learning after I heard Jeff's presentation at our State Childcare Conference. The book is so well thought out. Jeff and Tasha share loads of EXCELLENT activities to do INEXPENSIVELY with children. A really handy feature is they tell you the mistakes they made during their learning process, and ALL of the projects have been tested by the children that spend their days at Jeff and Tasha's Family Daycare, so you know children love these activities. The most incredible of the projects cost me $15.00 to make and gave my preschool children literally HOURS and HOURS of hands-on learning and fun. Jeff KNOWS what children love, and the best part is that he shares it with everyone!

I have done roughly 40 of the projects/activities in this book and ALL were a hit and earned a chorus of "Can we do this again?" from my preschoolers.

So many toys available at toy stores rob children of their imagination—they all make noise, or move on their own. Jeff's "toys" really engage children and bring out their creativity and imagination. I have owned this book for the shortest amount of time of all my resource books, and it is by far the most used. Thanks Jeff!
—D. Dinger, in an Amazon.com review