Toy BBQ (barbecue)

Hi everybody!

This is Federica from Italy, architect/mum/restless creative mind and this is my first post here.

Summer means BBQ family time... and our 3 yo griller is always ready to help daddy!

This year we decided to give Nico his own toy kettle grill; we searched Amazon but... yep! such high prices!

We're pretty good at DIY so we sifted the web looking for a good tutorial... I only found one here at Apartment Therapy, but I'd like to have something more "real"...

So we came out with this! Enjoy!

What you will need:

Materials

• n°2 metal bowl (diam. cm 32 --> it means about 12") with flat edge
• n°2 spray paint cans (black and silver gray)
• n°1 handle (we used Varde from Ikea)
• n°1 wood dowel (diam mm 23 --> about 1", lenght m 2 --> about 6 and a half feet)
• n°1 balsa wood dowel or half-dowel (lenght m 2 --> about 6 and a half feet)
• n°1 wood strip (lenght m 2 --> about 6 and a half feet)
• sandpaper 220-grit
• metal S-hooks
• washbasin filter
• round head thermometer probe
• n°3 rubber chair feet
• screws, washers, nuts
• vinyl glue
• double-sided tape or hot-glue gun

Tools

• handsaw with miter box
• screwdriver
• drill
• 1/4" drill bit

• 1/8" drill bit

We raided local dollar stores or home depots to get all the things needed. You too are ready to start?

1) Sand down the two metal bowls and spray paint them in black.

2) Using the handle as a template, drill two holes in the bottom side of one of the bowls and screw the handle.

3) Drill a 6 mm (1/4") hole in the same side of the bowl and fix, with a screw and a nut, the washbasin filter through his center hole.

4) Cut the thermometer probe and glue the head opposite to the filter, always on the outer side of the bowl.

You got the lid!

1) Cut the 1" wood dowel into three leg pieces that are each 18" in length. One end of each piece should be cut at a 22.5 degrees miter (half of 45 degrees).

2) Using the 1/8" drill bit, drill a pilot hole 1" deep into the mitered end of each leg.

3) Paint every leg with silver grey spray can.

4) Take the second bowl and drill three holes (again using the 1/8" drill bit) as if they form an equilateral triangle.

5) Screw the legs to the bowl with a washer inside: we got the tripod!

We must still add the rubber chair feet and the bars to hang the cooking tools: to make these, let's cut from the balsa wood dowel or half-dowel three pieces each 7= in length, then spray paint them in silver grey and glue them to the legs at a 13" height from ground level.

We're nearly done!

Cut two pieces 11" of length from the wood strip and mark with a pencil 2,9 cm apart (about 1" and an eighth) to the right and to the left of the middle (the outer parts will be shorter, about 2,5 cm --> 1"): the marks should correspond to the interaxis (center-to-center) distance of the dowels that will make the grill.

Here's how you can obtain the right pieces: cut, from the balsa wood dowel or half-dowel:

• (A) n°1 piece of 32 cm (12,60") of length

• (E) n°2 pieces of 22 cm (8,66") of length

• (D) n°2 pieces of 27 cm (10,63") of length

• (C) n°2 pieces of 30 cm (11,81") of length

• (B) n°2 pieces of 31,5 cm (12,40") of length

• (F) n°2 pieces of 14 cm (5,51") of length

drawn in blue in the pattern and glue them to the two 11" pieces of the wood strip (drawn in red) with vinyl glue.

Finish the grill spray painting all in silver grey and put it in the lower bowl.

What is still missing? But the accessories!

We used DUKTIG toy kitchen utensil set from Ikea and hung it up to the tripod bars using the S-hooks.

A little griller must have his own apron! You could sew it all by yourself but, if you're looking for something ready, this from Fisher-Price is a good choice for me!

And what coud he cook?

We have a cuttable wooden food set we bought at Christmas time from Lidl, but you can find plenty of choices: this from Little Tikes, these condiments from Melissa & Doug, a basket full of healthy food from Learning Resources, two (here and here) grill accessory sets from Fisher-Price and a soft food set from Haba!

That's all!

Thanks for reading the tutorial, I hope you liked it and I look forward to see the pics of your own toy BBQ!

For more tutorial (in Italian, but there are images) visit my website and blog, Bimbincasa!

See ya!

Federica