Kids Stilts

Here's a simple DIY project to build "stilts". You can do this for or with your child - pretty straight forward, check it out:

Materials Needed:
* two 2x2x8' timber beams (e.g. pine)
* one 2x4x 12" piece of wood (e.g. pine)
* two 3/8" x 4" Hex Head Bolts
* one 3/8" Dowel piece 4" long
* two small rubber cups (or table legs floor / carpet protectors)
* cordless drill with standard wood drill bits

Note: It would be nice to simply buy one 2x4x8' and rip it in half, but 2x4 timber will almost always bow after being cut.

Teaching your son how to be a man

Deciding on the ways you should teach your son how to be a man can inspire a great deal of soul searching for any father. Back in the olden days, when a man was seen as the head of the household, sole bread winner and a pillar of physical and emotional strength, this task may have been an easier one. The advice back might have been quite simple "get a good job, work hard, support your family and don’t cry". However things are bit more tricky for 21st century dads. Here are some more contemporary manly things to teach your son:

How to cook
Why is important? Because knowing how to cook is all about self-sufficiency and independence. Is there any skill more important than one that teaches self sufficiency? Cooking is also “still” a pretty easy way to impress girls – so two birds with one stone.

How to manage money

How to save space in your kids' bedroom

The central piece of the bedroom is generally a large bed which occupies most of the space; in order to win free space, you can search for a bed appropriate for your room size at bedstar. Another reason for having not enough space in your bedroom is due to the fact that we are used to having lots of toys in the room as well.

So one of the easiest things you can do is to buy a size appropriate bed. E.g. consider the following:

• Sofa bed – it can be folded during the day to occupy less space
  
• Storage Bed – the storage spaces can be used for keeping all the toys in the storage compartment under the bed
  
• Murphy bed – can be lifted during the day to give you floor access

DIY with dad: top 5 easter egg designs

Here's some inspiration for Easter craft projects with the kids - depending on what you're into and what resources you've got at home you can pick a project from the following:

The ultimate Easter Gadget I guess ... the "Egg-Bot Kit" by Evil Mad Scientists - prints illustrations and patterns on eggs (other other spherical objects). Getting one of those will set you back $195 ... but hey what price tag can you put on being the coolest parent on the block.

Here's an awesome tutorial on how to create marble eggs ...

Make your own LEGO egg - get some felt floor scratch protection pads (usually used on chairs / tables to protect wooden floors) and stick on your egg. Afterwards paint over in typical LEGO colors (yellow, red, blue, etc).

What to do when your child has headlice

It seems inevitable that at some point in your life as a parent you have to deal with headlice (one way or another). Most likely someone at preschool, kindergarten or school has them and you get a letter to say "check your child". Or perhaps you discovered your little one scratching their head a lot or noticed some strange skin irritation around the neck or behind the ears. Either way - it helps to familiarize yourself with this pest.

Headlice are tiny insects that crawl from head to head and may be passed on through shared objects such as hairbrushes, towels and hats.

Detecting headlice - what to look for:

• Check your child's head and look for small light or dark brown insects without wings (check the entire head but especially the back of the head and at the sides and around the ears).
  
• Also look for tiny whitish eggs (nits) like grains of salt attached to hair shafts.

April Fools Day: practical jokes to play on your kids

OK it's time to get ready for April Fools Day so we thought let's put together a useful list of pranks you can play on your kids and partner.

Babies and Toddlers: well given that the irony of April Fools Day may be a bit lost on babies and toddlers you can just have a good old laugh with them. E.g. paint your face, user finger puppets or put a nappy on your head (a fresh one!!!)
Preschoolers: Find a piece of old / scrap cloth. Place your victim’s favourite toy or other item of interest on the floor and stay nearby. When the victim comes along and bends down to pick up the toy, rip the cloth ... yell out that your little one as just ripped their trousers.
Primary school children: Add a few drops of food coloring into a milk carton for a nice surprise at breakfast! If you have sleepy kids you can also get up a bit earlier and draw something on their face while they are still asleep.

DIY with dad - Easter Eggs

If you're stuck for a little DIY / craft project with your kids in the run up to Easter - check out the following suggestion from our "Make it Ruby" series.

What you need: plastic eggs, metallic acrylic paints, paint brushes, glitter, jewels, sequins, acrylic adhesive

Step-by-step guide:
1. Take the plastic eggs and gently ruff up the outer surface.
2. Apply thin layers of metallic acrylic paint so it will dry faster.
3. Add your design or patterns over your base color. After it dries enhance the sparkle with glitter, jewels, & sequins.

By MakeItRuby.com

Ten things to do on Mothers Day

What can you do on Mother's Day to make it special for your partner (and your children)? Here's a list of treats for partners/mums and activities with babies/kids.

What you can do for your partner on Mother’s Day:

1. Let her sleep in (which typically means taking care of the baby and kids in the morning)
   
2. Give her a nice backrub / foot massage
   
3. Run a bath for her and put some nice aromatherapy oils/soap in it
   
4. Cook or bake something for your partner that you know she really likes
   
5. Make her a card with photos / drawings from your kids

And don’t forget your own mum – send her a card or give her a call to say thank you for bringing you into this world and looking after you all these years.

Best Apps Review

Our DIYFather app is making appearances in App Reviews around the world - great to see dressify delivering results for dads around the world. Here's the story on Nine MSN's Today show:

If you haven't downloaded dressify yet - check it out ... it's free.

DIYFather.com

Survival Guide for Single Fathers of Tween and Teen Daughters

By Gretchen Gross

You’re a smart guy. You read The Perfect Storm and now you find yourself living it. Your daughter, who yesterday was happy to hang out with you at Home Depot, now cries for no known reason. Last week you were her soccer coach and ‘the best dad there ever was, really,’ and today on the way home from practice she turned away and stared sadly out the window and wouldn’t say a word to you. She’s hovering around adolescence and all of a sudden you’re flopping on the daddy-deck in a panic. What the heck is about to happen and how are you going to get through this? How can you help her get through these difficult years when honestly, you don’t totally understand it yourself? If you’re a single dad, it can get all the more complicated. You might not know who or where to go to for the real deal, the inside scoop. When did her body start to change? Where the heck do you buy a training bra, and when? Do you have to take her or can you pay someone else to do it? What about dating? Or the girl clique thing you’ve heard about. Can’t you just ignore it and raise her just like you would a son, just like you were raised? This book is for any man raising a tween or teen daughter, but particularly the single man who does or doesn’t have full-time custody. This is the definitive guide to helping dad and daughter get past ‘survive’ and onto ‘thrive.’ Written for any man raising daughters, the authors geared this book for the single dad who may not have a woman in his life with whom to confer about issues their daughters may be facing like sex, friendships, boyfriends, alcohol and drugs, and personal hygiene. This book covers it all, from what to keep stocked in the bathroom to how to talk about sex without being blown off. The authors help dads gain a better sense of what their daughters are going through, how their bodies are changing, how their relationships are changing, and how best to handle the ups and downs of these challenging years.

Here's an extract from our book "But Dad! A Survival Guide for Single Fathers of Tween and Teen Daughters":