Marius & Lurraine have 3 kids (Ages 6; 4; 2) and are from South Africa. They found this activity fun and so useful.

Equipment and materials used

  • Piece of wood (Lurraine used pine 95cmx20cm)
  • pencil
  • soldering iron
  • wood varnish
  • hooks

Making the hanger

Step 1: Make sure the piece of wood is nicely sanded.

Step 2: Write the names or draw a picture for each family member (divide the wood into equal blocks), try not to over complicate or adding too much detail.

Step 3: Heat up the soldering iron and then follow the lines drawn with the pencil (using dots is easier than drawing a line), this takes a lot of time and patience. Each time after burning a few dots, clean the tip of the soldering iron with sand paper.

Step 4: When the pictures are complete you can now paint the wood with varnish. Allow to dry completely before painting another coat. (if you think it is necessary, only one coat was painted here).

What inspired you to create this hanger?

We find it quite challenging to keep the kids busy all the time – especially with us working full time from home. We prefer that they do not watch too much tv or play on the Ipad – they get more than enough screen time over weekends. Hopefully, these activities we do together will be a reminder to them one day on the time we spent as a family during lockdown.