Tuesday, January 4, 2011

A Handmade Balance Beam

My dad made the girls a balance beam for Christmas, and they love it!  It's not only fun for balancing, but also for playing "train" and "horse."


When I say that this balance beam is handmade, I mean it!  My dad grew the tree, cut the tree, and sawed it into boards (he's building a house, and he is cutting and sawing all of his own board from the trees in his woods).  He cut the beam to the appropriate length and cut the end segments to the right sizes.  I really like how he notched the end beams for the long beam to fit right on it. 



After he cut the beam, he sanded it by hand. 



Thanks, Grandaddy!  I know the girls will treasure this gift for years. 

13 comments:

  1. Wow, thats truly amazing! Has he been building the house for long? How long do the trees take to grow?
    What a special present :)

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  2. He's been building the house for a long, long time, and he has a long way to go :) He didn't plant the trees, and he's tried to only cut trees that he had to cut anyway to build his driveway and to clear the area for the house.

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  3. Lucky kids :) Thanks for sharing this - I think I need to find a handy parent to make us a few of these for preschool.

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  4. I had a balance beam just like this that my dad made when I was a kid. Thanks for the memory! Now, I'm afraid it's the playground or nothing. :)

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  5. That is awesome! My daughter would love this as she stops what she's doing if she's a ledge to carefully walk on. A special gift to treasure for your girls!

    - Brianne

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  6. My dad made one of these for me when I was a child. One of the best Christmas gifts I have ever received! Thanks for the memory!

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  7. Amazing, what a great gift! I remember when I was little, my sisters and I used to try to imitate gymnastic feats on an imaginary balance beam when we watched the summer Olympics. A great gift, for sure!

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  8. Great idea! Looks like I can add to my hubby's project list! Kerri

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  9. That is pretty special - lucky kids to have such loving grandpa.

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