Latch Board Activity Toy for Kids {DIY}

I’m really excited to share this DIY project that Brett made for Trent. It’s an absolutely perfect toy for a boy, but also for any toddler to help them learn fine motor skills. He made it a few months ago and Trent plays with it every single day. There are so many different options for latches, doors, locks, handles, wheels, and of course…the must-have “boingy things” that you can make any variation you can think of. Brett got most of the supplies at Home Depot and added in some items we already had at home.

Latch Board Activity Toy for Kids

Here are the specific items on our latch board:

1) Ikea Curtain Wire with Steel rings (You can get this from Amazon too)

2) Bolts and Washers

3) Toilet paper holder with painted PVC pipe

4) Spring Door Stop “Boingy Thing” (Amazon)

5) Bolt Latch

6) Tap lights

7) Spring Door Stop “Boingy Thing”

8) Swivel Caster wheel

9) Doors with Drawer pulls to hide stuff behind (we used vinyl monster decals - a mirror would also be fun)

10) Letter and Number combination locks

11) Flip up trunk handle

12) Fixed Caster Wheel

13) Door Chain Lock

 

For the board, he used a large piece of ¾ inch sanded plywood. To add the design, he spray-painted the entire board yellow and then he used painter’s tape to mark across the top and diagonal lines. He used a small piece of the painter’s tape to guide the spacing of each line.

Once all the tape was in place (make sure it’s pressed down firmly so there isn’t any bleeding), he spray-painted the entire thing black.

Once the black paint dried, he just peeled the painter’s tape to reveal the design.

For the mini doors (#9), he painted two square pieces of wood with spray paint…one red and one blue. Once those were dry, he attached the handles.

After all the paint was dry, it was time to start attaching all the items to the board!

But first, he laid the board down on the floor and created a layout of the items before actually fastening them to the board. This helped him plan out where everything was going to go.

Someone wanted to help too…see, perfect toy for a boy…both to play with AND put together!

So many fun things to play with!

Trent’s first birthday was monster-themed, so we had some of these vinyl monster decals.

He loves opening the doors to see them underneath.

He’ll be picking locks in no time lol

I tried to describe each item (oh who am I kidding, I had Brett write them out for me!), but if you have any questions, please ask!