DIY for Beginners- Magnetic Board for Toddlers –

Technically, I don’t even know if this qualifies as a DIY because I literally did nothing more than plug in a hot glue gun.

Recently, my son discovered that the dishwasher is magnetic and has been having a lot of fun moving the magnets around on there. Unfortunately, it seemed that the magnets might be scratching the stainless surface so we had to nix this activity…. for now.

I was determined to come up with an alternative for him, as I was really pleased with how well he was standing with his hands full and wanted to help him develop this skill even further. After a bit of searching (pinterest is the best, isn’t it??), I found the most simple solution.

This is an oil drip pan, found in the auto section at Walmart. This thing is MASSIVE- and the best part? It’s only $12. I quickly collected a few various items to use as fun magnets, like hot wheels cars, bug and dinosaur figurines, and foam letters. I purchased flexible magnets (from Michaels) and hot glued them together.

I have it leaned against the wall in our ‘temporary housing’ right now, but my plan is to screw it into the wall of his new play room (. I definitely wouldn’t leave it leaning, as he has tried to pull it down several times already, but it will be fine until we move. I also plan to paint it to match his play room down the road (with metal- safe spray paint and perhaps a sealer on top).

He loves taking them off and on and ‘vrooming’ the cars all over- I mark this little project as a success!