“Can I help?”

It’s a refrain familiar to any parent who has ever engaged in a home improvement project. When kids see tools, they just can’t wait to get in on the action. But let’s face it: Many projects are either too dangerous or too delicate for young hands. Family togetherness is a wonderful thing, but do you really want your 6-year-old involved in laying your fragile new Italian floor tiles or operating a circular saw?

Fortunately, the folks at the Home Depot have designed a child-friendly program that helps youngsters become familiar with a range of tools in a fun, safe environment. The Home Depot’s Kids Workshops are offered from 9 a.m. to noon on the first Saturday of every month at each of the 20 store locations in the St. Louis area. The workshops – including materials and instruction – are provided free of charge.

Workshop subjects vary from month to month and are typically aligned to a season or holiday. In December, kids built menorahs in honor of Hanukkah. In March, they constructed rain gauges in preparation for the deluges of spring. Most of the workshops involve woodworking projects from pre-packaged kits. Kids work with everything from hammers and screwdrivers to copious amounts of wood glue and paint. A Home Depot associate is on hand to provide instruction, answer questions or lend a hand when needed, but most of the projects can be handled with minimal assistance from even the most tool-wary parent.

Although Home Depot aims the workshops at children ages 5 to 12, those on the younger end of that spectrum are likely to get the most enjoyment from the projects. The events run for three hours, but the projects can be finished in a fraction of that time. Families stream in and out of the workshops throughout the morning, with most wrapping up their projects in under an hour.

To find out about upcoming workshops, visit www.homedepot.com/kidsworkshop. You can try calling your local Home Depot, but not all sales associates have information about the workshops and you may be on hold for an extended amount of time. Upcoming projects include building a butterfly house (April 3) and a picket fence planter (May 1).

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