Clever Clothing Pole

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After struggling for a year to get his five-year-old daughter, Lindsey, dressed in time for preschool, Alex Anderson of Clifton Springs, New York, constructed an interactive clothing pole that makes choosing outfits a matching game and omits (most) disagreements over weather-appropriate attire. Lindsey's clothing pole includes four interchangeable weather symbols (see below). Each evening, she loves to check the next day's weather on the family computer. Then she places the corresponding weather symbol on top of the pole and hangs the clothes she wants to wear on the dowels, which of course saves time the next morning.

Prep Time: About 2 to 3 hours
What you need:
	4-foot piece of 1- by 10-inch select pine Saber saw or jigsaw Fine sandpaper Power drill with 3/8-inch bit and 1-inch bit Dowel, 1 inch in diameter, 3 feet long Dowel, 3/8 inch in diameter, cut into two 9-inch lengths and one 2 1/2-inch length (dowels can be cut with a handsaw) Wood glue Acrylic paints in red, yellow, orange, turquoise, and white Paintbrushes
Seasons: Year round
Materials: paints, wood
Instructions:
1.	Use a pencil to draw outlines for the heart-shaped base and the sun, raindrop, cloud, and snowflake symbols on the pine as shown below. The heart base should measure about 9 by 10 inches. The sizes of the weather symbols vary. You may want to cut paper patterns first to make sure everything fits on the wood. Use a saber saw or jigsaw to cut the shapes. Sand all edges.
2.	Using the 3/8-inch drill bit, drill two holes near the top of the 3-foot-long dowel for the 9-inch dowels to fit through. We drilled holes 2 and 4 inches down from the top and on adjacent sides so the 9-inch dowels, when added, form a cross. Sand the ends of the 9-inch dowels, slip them through the holes, and glue to secure them, if necessary
3.	Drill a hole about 1 inch deep in the top of the 3-foot dowel. Put glue in the hole and insert the 2 1/2-inch dowel.
4.	Drill a hole about 1 1/2 inches deep in the bottom edge of each weather symbol so that it fits onto the 2 1/2-inch dowel. If your symbols don't slide on and off the dowel easily, either make the hole in the symbol larger or sand down the dowel
5.	Switch to the 1-inch drill bit and drill a hole all the way through the center of the heart base. Apply glue to the edges of the bottom of the 3-foot dowel and insert it into the hole in the base.
6.	When all the glue has dried, invite your child to help paint everything (except the 2 1/2-inch dowel) and let it dry.