Parents' Guide to

DIY

By Michelle Kitt, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 9+

Maker community celebrates skill building and creativity.

Website https://www.diy.org
DIY Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this website.

Community Reviews

See all
age 7+

Based on 1 parent review

ClassicEducationMama
ClassicEducationMama Parent of baby-year-old
June 14, 2013
age 7+

Best site for kids I've seen yet!

This is just an incredible site! Kids work on hands on projects to earn merit badges. In my community, kids ages 7-17 all enjoy working on individual projects through this very safe and secure site. Parents can log on and follow all of their child's activity on DIY. The merit badges are super unique and full of fun challenges varying from an Astronomer Badge (Make a Sundial or Build a Model Solar System) to a Medic Badge (Assemble a First-Aid Kit or Make a Stethoscope) to a Puppeteer Badge (Perform a Shadow Puppet Show or Make a Movie with Your Puppets)! New badges and challenges are developed all the time. I say 7 and up because I feel there is nothing inappropriate for that age group on the site. Parent involvement would probably be helpful for some of the challenges depending on the age of the child. (WEAPON ALERT: For parents concerned about violence there are a few badges that do include building various tools including a bow and arrow for the Pioneer Badge and building an air cannon (to shoot marshmallows) for the Rocketeer Badge.) These projects can be easily avoided if they are of any concern.

This title has:

Great messages
See all 1 parent review

Privacy Rating Warning

  • Personal information is not sold or rented to third parties.
  • Personal information is shared for third-party marketing.
  • Personalised advertising is displayed.
  • Unclear whether data are collected by third-parties for their own purposes.
  • Unclear whether this product uses a user's information to track and target advertisements on other third-party websites or services.
  • Unclear whether this product creates and uses data profiles for personalised advertisements.
Learn more about our privacy ratings

What’s It About?

The homepage lists popular challenges, features a particular challenge, and shares news about who’s earned a new badge. Kids can explore topics there or go to the Skills page and browse 50 different categories of challenges. Kids have to create a profile and avatar to upload photos or videos as proof for completing challenges. If they complete three in a skill area, they earn a patch that displays online. Kids can follow other DIYers and interact with comments or by asking and answering questions.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1 ):
Kids say (4 ):

Grown up boy and girl scouts will remember doing specific tasks to earn merit badges. DIY is an online form of the same thing, made more accessible and inclusive by its large assortment of skills challenges. It engages kids with varied interests -- technology, art, comedy, the outdoors, the indoors, bugs, computers -- there’s even a Front End Dev skill for kids who like bugs in computers. Skills have a mix of challenges kids can do independently (Minecraft challenges or build an indoor fort) and others that require help from an adult (repair a bicycle tube) or a professional (use a soldering iron). In those cases, success depends on the level of involvement kids can get from adults. Still, DIY rewards any completed challenge regardless of difficulty or time to complete and kids walk away with confidence, new skills, and a nifty online patch.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about appropriate ways to ask questions or make suggestions on others' projects and avoid hurt feelings. How should you respond to questions or suggestions from others? What are some examples of positive interactions? Which behaviors should you avoid?

  • Ensure kids know how to be safe interacting online with people they don’t know. Check out our advice for elementary, middle, and high schoolers.

Website Details

  • Subjects: Science : engineering
  • Skills: Thinking & Reasoning : defining problems, problem solving, strategy, thinking critically, Creativity : brainstorming, developing novel solutions, making new creations, Self-Direction : achieving goals, initiative, work to achieve goals
  • Genre: Creating
  • Pricing structure: Free to try (14-day free trial then $15-20 per month depending on family size.)
  • Last updated: March 24, 2020

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate