Teach Your Kids DIY With Their New Blinds

Family DIY time is family fun time!

As parents, it is our duty to ensure that our children learn all the necessary life skills to flourish and be independent in adulthood. One of the most valuable skills a person can have is knowing how to do DIY. Being able to do physical tasks will instil a sense of pride in your children and give them the foundations to expand their skills when they grow up.

A great opportunity to instil the skill of DIY in your children is when you’re buying some new window blinds for your home, throughout the process of getting a new blind there are ample opportunities to get your kids involved, whether they’re tiny toddlers picking up the basics of measuring or teenagers using power tools for the first time.

Today, we’ll have a look at the process of buying and installing our blinds, pointing out all the opportunities to get your children involved in age-appropriate activities and help them develop important life skills.

Measuring your windows for blinds (Age 5 and upwards)

Whenever you buy a new made to measure blind, the first step of the process will be to measure the window, so that you know how big your blind will need to be. Measuring is an important skill for your child to have for later life when they do DIY in their own home, but in childhood assisting with measurements will help to improve math skills and provide confidence to your child.

First, you’ll want to show the measuring tape to your child, explaining how it works and showing the units of measurements on the tapes. Once you’re confident they know what to do with the tape measure, let them take the measurements for the window and have them note down their measurements for the blind.

If you have a large window to shade, smaller children may need some assistance getting the tape measure to the top of the window, but you can assist your child to help them get their measurements.

Choosing a colour for the blinds (Age 5 and upwards)

After measuring the window for your new blinds, the natural next step is to choose a fabric for your window shade. To make this easy we offer FREE fabric samples which can be delivered to your door to see the fabrics and colours up close before buying.

If you’re happy not having 100% of the creative control around your new blinds, you can enlist the help of your children to help pick out a colour for them. Being involved in picking out the colour will give your child a sense of pride and connection to the new shades, but also improve their colour recognition and colour pairing skills.

While choosing the colour is just a small part of the process, your child will certainly be happy to be part of the project and to have a say in the look of their home.

Now that you have your measurements for the window shade and know what you’re buying, it’s time to visit DotcomBlinds.com to order your new blinds and wait a few days until we deliver it.

Once you have the blinds in hand, it’s time to move onto the DIY tasks involved in installing the blinds.

Being your assistant whilst you install the blinds (Age 10 and upwards)

If you have young children, it’s best that their involvement from here on out is more focused on learning about tools and assisting you to do the work, as many of the physical tasks involved with installing our blinds aren’t age appropriate for young children.

When you’re installing the blind in your window, your child can assist you by reading measurements, relaying instructions, and passing you the tools you need. Not only will this be a great bonding opportunity and team building exercise for you and your little one, but it’ll give them a chance to become familiar with tools like screwdrivers and promote their reading skills.

Helping with non-power tool related steps (Age 12 and upwards)

For older children and young teenagers, there are plenty of opportunities for them to get involved with installing the new blinds and get some experience handling tools (not power tools though!). But tasks such as using a screwdriver to secure the blinds brackets, marking spots for a responsible adult to drill, or using a spirit level to ensure the blinds are straight, are all great learning opportunities.

This remedial tool use will help build a base layer of skill for your child and help give them confidence for when they’re old enough to expand their skillset further. Just ensure that there is always a responsible adult supervising whilst they’re involved with the installation.

Helping with power tool related steps (Age 15 and upwards)

If you have older teenagers, then now is a great time to introduce them to power tools in a safe and supervised environment. When installing a window blind, you will need to drill holes for the brackets to be secured, so with some supervision you can get your teenager to help with some of the drilling if they’re string and confident enough.

There should not be a great deal of power tool use when installing blinds, but giving your teenager the opportunity to use power tools in a safe and supervised environment will help them understand power tool safety and hopefully spark an interest in DIY that they can expand upon in the future.