Dad creates brilliant interactive stair gate to soothe his son’s tantrums for less than a tenner

Why have just a plain old gate barring your kids from the stairs when you can make one that doubles as a toy?

Take inspiration from one dad, who created a brilliant interactive gate to soothe his son’s tantrums for less than a tenner.

Nick Pearce, from Cornwall, repurposed wood from an old shoe rack to craft the stair gate, painted it with blue and white paint he already had to make it more visually appealing, then stuck on a calculator, light switch, a sliding lock, a computer mouse, a doorstop, an old mobile phone and xylophone – all chosen to be things that will keep their nine-month-old son, Archer, entertained.

The interactive toys only cost £10 in total, and transform just a bit of furniture into a proper toy.

Plus, it looks far prettier than your bog-standard stair gate.

Nick then added hinges and a lock to make the board function as a safety gate, so it’s actually practical as well as keeping Archer busy.

Archer’s mum, Melanie Pearce, shared photos of the creation in the DIY On A Budget Official Facebook group, writing: ‘My husband built this busy board for our son which we turned into a stair gate for the lounge (hopefully stop him from standing at the gate crying when I leave the room ?).

‘I think it’s fab! It only cost around £10 to make as we already had the wood and paint.’

Archer absolutely loves the new toy, spending ages pinging the door stop and pushing buttons.