Mama Loves... Lowes?

We took Sam and Anna to their first build and grow workshop at Lowes yesterday.  I had my doubts, since the info I read said the recommended age first grade and up- but it was free, so I thought it was worth a shot.  Yesterday's project was a build-a-saurus, and my duo certainly love their dinosaurs (thanks to the How Do Dinosaurs... books by Mark Teague) so we headed over there at 10 am after signing up online a week or so ago.

It was fun.  It was entertaining.  It exceeded my expectations. Did I mention that it was free?  And although it was too difficult for my not-quite-2-year-olds to do on their own, it was entirely possible to "help" them build a dinosaur out of pre-cut wood and nails with one-on-one adult help.  You couldn't wipe the smile off of Sam's face. 

My biggest beef was the jerk dad across from us who said a slew of negative comments to his kids (because they weren't "doing it right") and then when Anna was roaring like a dinosaur with her completed project, asked me if she was making "baby noises" or really trying to roar like a dinosaur."  Yeah, dude- she's a baby.  Pretty sure if she's old enough to walk and wield a metal hammer, she can comprehend an animal noise and recreate it. 

Sam and Anna humored us by wearing the aprons and even tolerating the safety goggles for awhile.  How awesome is it that we were able to even take them home and add the aprons and goggles to our play workbench set that was a Christmas gift?  They also each got a patch and certificate, which I'm sure as they get older, will be more of a bigger deal to them.

Did you know that Lowes holds free building projects for kids every other Saturday?  You don't even have to sign up online, you can just show up- but since each location is limited to 50 participants, I would recommend signing up online beforehand.  By checking online, you can see each session ahead of time to determine if it would be a good fit for your child.  I decided to skip the castle building project before this one, because I wasn't sure if Sam or Anna would get it.  I'm sad that we missed the wooden train project last month.  We are also skipping the next project- a valentine card holder, but as soon as I got home, I signed us up for the one after that- a wooden race car.  I'm sure they will have tons of fun at that one too!  I'm excited to see what projects they have in the future!

Don't have a Lowes near you?  Home Depot also hold kids workshops, on the first Saturday of the month.  As long as I am on a roll, Lakeshore Learning also holds free kids projects on Saturdays, if you are lucky enough to live near one (Sam and Anna's grandparents do, but unfortunately for us, it's a 3 hour drive away) and Michaels does some weekends, too!

I'm linking up with Julia's mama loves today!