When my son said that he wanted a hatchet for his birthday, then by golly he's going to get a hatchet! That was easy! I walked into Bass Pro and bought him a hatchet. It seemed a little too easy to be honest. I didn't feel like that was enough and I felt like I had other fatherly duties that demanded my attention. The next logical thing I though was is to build him a throwing target to go along with his hatchet. This was a cheap and easy project that was done in about an hour. I bought a twelve foot, 2 X 10 board and cut it into three feet pieces that were four pieces long. I then connected them together with a 2 X 4 at the top and bottom of each strip. Finally, I used a nail, string, and magnum sharpie to make the rings and a red sharpie to color in the bull's eye. Aside from being target practice with his hatchet, he can also throw his ninja stars into it which he got for Christmas. Yes, maybe it's a little overkill but if it keeps him off the video games for awhile and gets him outdoors then it was a simple labor that was worth it!
I almost forgot to mention the reason why he wants a hatchet. We are currently reading Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. If you are a parent of a child in upper elementary or lower middle school and you are looking for a good book to read with your child, I cannot recommend this book enough. It DOES have a few adult themes in it like divorce so you might want to preread it first. However, the overall theme of problem solving and dealing with adversity is really empowering to a young adult. And yes, the main character uses a hatchet to do some pretty awesome things!
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