DIY Balance Beam: Henry's Birthday Presents

Since we're on a tight budget as I harped on earlier in the week, we wanted to be super-conscious about not spending too much on Henry's birthday presents. Honestly, this occasion is the first time I've felt truly compelled to commemorate a holiday with presents for Henry. We did make him a board book for his 1st birthday, but that was more for sentimental reasons rather than the fact that Henry actually appreciated or enjoyed opening a present on his birthday. 

But now he's clearly at a stage where he enjoys opening presents, and we wanted to give him the opportunity on his birthday. I thought long and hard about what would be a meaningful and memorable (as well as inexpensive!) present, and I came up with the idea to make him a balance beam for the backyard (inspired by the one our friends made for their daughter, Ruby). It felt perfect for so many reasons, including:

1. Henry loves to try and balance on things (curbs, parking spot bumpers, etc.).
2. Henry loves "practical life" experiences like cooking, cleaning, gardening, etc. I thought it would be cool to give him an entire experience for his birthday (i.e., going to Home Depot, picking out the wood, bringing it home, watching the saw, using a hammer to hit the nails, etc.).
3. I imagined it would be cheap to buy a plank of wood, a base of wood, and some nails.

While it remains to be seen whether he will enjoy using it, reasons #2 and #3 are definitely true. Henry had so much fun at the home improvement store and participating in the creation of his backyard balance beam. Plus, it was even cheaper than I imagined. We bought a 2x4 piece of pressure treated decking for about $4. Then we looked around for really sturdy blocks of wood to raise the beam off the ground. We struggled to find anything that would work well, and then I spotted a piece of scrap wood in the trash can at Home Depot. Score! We spent another $4 on a box of long nails. 

I also wanted to give him something to open, so I ordered two books about machines (he's fascinated, and I don't know the proper vocabulary words to help him name them in the real world), and I'm going to wrap up a book about butterflies that has been in the closet (we stop to look at the real butterflies in the flowers outside our house every time I pick up Henry from school in the stroller and we walk home). Altogether, the books cost about $12 (and I used our Discover Cashback bonus on Amazon). 

So for a total of $20, Henry got to build a balance beam for the backyard and add three books to his collection!