Is your child ready to enjoy the winter?
Winter is amazing when your child has a sled - preferably with a fully functional steering wheel and braking system. Did you know S.L.E.D. is also an acronym for School, Laughter, Endurance, and D vitamin? These are four areas that benefit greatly from sledding.
The benefits of S.L.E.D.
School: Improved classroom behavior, memory, and learning
Parents and teachers know that physical activity boosts performance at school. It sharpens the intellect, improves memory, and makes learning easier. Turns out, after spending their energy on fun activities, such as sledding, kids also become friendlier and work better in groups.
Laughter: The joy of being a child
Can you keep a straight face while sledding down the hill? Try it! It's nearly impossible with adults, and even more so with kids. Sledding with friends for a few hours can give a weekly dose of joy.
Endurance: Easy way to stay active in winter
Sledding is fun and therefore doesn't consume kids willpower. In contrast, running in a stadium in winter feels less exciting than ever. Having a sled with steering wheel and brakes will help your child to stay active and healthy.
D vitamin: Healthy bones and good mood
Healthy bones, teeth, muscles, and even a good mood need D vitamin. Only a few foods naturally contain in. An important way of receiving D vitamin is by exposing the skin to sunlight. There is less sunlight in winter, so spending sunny hours outdoors is a brilliant idea.
You can make a fully functional sled by yourself
Now you see the great benefits of S.L.E.D. Before you search "sled" on Amazon... there is a more personal and inexpensive and way to make your child happy. You can make a fully functional sled all by yourself! Keep reading to learn more.
How to make a sled for your child?
We mentioned a "fully functional steering wheel" and the "braking system," remember? It is not surprising such high-level sleds are made of wood. In this case, it's plywood - an engineered wood that is eco-friendly and often even more durable than solid wood.
Woodworkers use CNC routers – highly precise cutting machines that will cut out all required parts from a single sheet of plywood. After the parts have been cut out, you can assemble them by yourself. Assembling a sled only takes 30 minutes - no glue, nails or screws required.
If you don't own a CNC machine, that's fine – there is a CNC woodworker in almost every neighborhood. Hiring a woodworker and buying plywood and blueprint (see next paragraph) is way cheaper than buying a sled on Amazon.
Building a sled requires just a single sheet of plywood (1250*1550*9mm) as well as a 4 mm spindle (for dogbones) and rubber or spring for the braking system.
Buy a DXF file and cut out sled today
To cut out wood projects, the CNC machine uses blueprints (also called patterns, plans or designs) - files in DXF format.
When you have a DXF design file, you can just input the file into the CNC router and let the machine do the cutting. If you don't own a CNC router, send the DXF design file to your local woodworker.
To cut out your project today, press "Add to Cart." After completing the purchase you will receive the DXF template file in your inbox within seconds.
Is your plywood sheet thicker/ thinner than expected? We will update the DXF file for free.
We hope you will enjoy your purchase from Aribabox. The pictures given for each item serve as a representation. The product may differ when cut and assembled.
If the DXF plan has to be updated to more precisely match the thickness of your plywood sheet, please send the number of your purchase and the actual thickness to contact@aribabox.com. We will update the design file and send it to you for free.