McConnell Dowell in New Zealand has teamed up with the Men’s Shed in Howick, Auckland, to make community events and open days more physically engaging for children.

It is challenging to make large plant like cranes, excavators, and piling rigs safe and easily accessible so small children can experience construction firsthand.

So, we decided to make the plant child-sized so they can have a real ‘hands-on’ experience.

McConnell Dowell provided some basic drawings and the materials and the Men’s Shed pulled it all together with their machinery, expertise, and bucketloads of enthusiasm. After some minor adjustments, we developed the first prototype Children’s Digger. At the first community event, the queues for the digger were a bit long so we added a second and slightly improved model.

The two new wood and steel diggers are sized so children anywhere between ages two to 12 can have a go at leveling a site, moving, or excavating. The simple two-lever operation is complex enough to be interesting but simple enough to be fun.

We have spotted kids of dubious age having a go when no one is looking, and the engineers are full of new ideas for improvements and automation.

The Men’s Shed is making a couple more diggers for local kindergartens and we donated the leftover materials to help.

While the initiative is fun, it is also one of the ways that we help educate kids about construction and safety. The aim is to have fun but also to get kids passionate about construction, so they come back to the industry when they get older.

The machines and the sand pit get bigger, but it is fun whatever your age may be.

(Left to right) Dennis and Philip from the Howick MenzShed proudly display the first 'prototype' digger in their workshop.

A careful operator in PPE takes tries one of the diggers at the Wharf 7 Upgrade Community Open Day in Gisborne in August.

Kids of all ages enjoy the diggers - patiently waiting their turn or watching and wishing they were a bit smaller.