Daddy-Daughter Bonding through Homemade Junkyards

My husband is sorely outnumbered on the gender front in our household. There’s me, of course, and then our four girls. Even the dog is female.

My Grandpa, I think, had a special sympathy toward my husband because he raised four girls, too. They understood each other without ever having to say a word…and my husband is convinced that this situation is the reason my grandfather so dearly loved spending time in his shop and checking on his cows.

Despite the slow, steady, passive-aggressive takeover of estrogen in our family, though, my husband has never felt or acted as though he could not share the things that interest him with our children.

My girls, at 12 and under, know more about how cars work and how to distinguish makes and year models than many grown men. They can tell the difference between various types of tools, and my 11 year-old can identify more parts of a computer than I can. If there is one thing I can be sure of, it’s that my girls will have well-rounded skills and interests—and they’ll never be helpless when their car breaks down on the side of the road.

The Back Story

Which brings me to the topic of today’s post. When my husband was a child, he and his younger brother received a brand new set of HotWheels cars. Now, both of these men, even from a young age, were and are fascinated by old cars and wrecked cars. After receiving the new cars, they thought it would be grand fun to create their own junkyard at home. This required the two of them to take turns using a hammer to smash and bash the little cars until the appropriate level of crashed wreckage was achieved.

Their parents, however, did not think this was such a wonderful idea and were a little more than upset about the situation. After being thoroughly reprimanded for their seeming recklessness, the pair decided it was time to devise a way to satisfy their wreckage need while saving their rear ends from any further….education.

What they came up with was nothing short of genius, particularly for their age. Today, my husband shared the inspired creativity with our girls—and they loved it. They loved it so much, in fact, that they opted to turn off the TV and spend several hours playing and bonding with their daddy.

The Project

Who needs to dress up Barbie dolls when you have several Hot Wheels cars, a bit of used aluminum foil, and some Sharpie markers? This project is so, so simple, and virtually free if you have these common household objects. Here’s what you do:

• Cut out a rectangle of foil slightly larger than the car.
• Wrap the foil over the top and sides of the car, molding it to shape.
• Use a smooth surface, such as the tip of an eraser, to smooth and mold the foil to greater detail.
• Use various colors of Sharpie markers to detail the foil. Note that regular washable markers will not work—the color will wipe right off. Use permanent markers only.
• Carefully remove the foil car shell from the toy.
• Repeat until you have as many as you want and line them up junkyard-style.
• Bash, squash, and otherwise demolish the shells till your heart’s content!

You can further the fun by “restoring” the demolished cars…if you can match up the flattened remains with their original cars. I think our girls got about three good restorations out of each shell before the foil was too crumpled to work with.

This is a great use for that old foil you’ve been saving, and it really doesn’t make much of a mess. Even our 5 year-old handled the Sharpies pretty well, though you can certainly help younger kids with their decorating. The best part is, the foil is still recyclable once you're finished with it. 

I love that this activity combines my husband’s interests and childhood experience with our girls’ love for crafting. They are sure to remember this for years to come and, I hope one day, share it with their kids—no matter which gender they may be!