Father’s Day Gift IDeas – 2 Books Built for Fun

DIY, Daddy-O

Even if your kids really do have “The World’s Greatest Dad,” spare him the coffee mug this Father’s Day and get him something to inspire even more super-dad-ness. A pair of dynamic Bay Area dads have books out that just might inspire more fatherly greatness.

FIrst off, HGTV host and San Francisco dad of two boys Todd Davis offers up Handy Dad: 25 Awesome Projects for Dads and Kids. In it, photos and clear instructions offer up blueprints for everything from a simple lava lamp to a skateboard longboard to a BMX bike ramp. Some take a few minutes, some take a weekend (but how much fun to put together a go-cart with your kids!?) And although it helps if you’ve at least held a hammer before, there are a few projects in here that even a seriously un-handy first timer can nail.

If you’re not quite up to letting your sig O put together a zipline in your backyard (and then send your kids flying down it), the science-y, less extreme options in Ken Denmead’s Geek Dad: Awesomely Geeky Activities and Projects for Dads and Kids to Share might be more your speed. There’s still some room for danger (building your own slip ‘n’ slide), but projects like wind-up toy finger painting and a light-up kite to fly at night will garner geeky enthusiasm from kids and dads alike. Denmead, a civil engineer, is also an San Francisco local and dad of two. He writes the parenting blog Geekdad for Wired.com.

Get dad and the kids engrossed in a hobby together this Father’s Day, under the tutelage of these DIY gurus.

—Sarah Bossenbroek