Mason’s First Wheelchair!

Guess what arrived this week from Great Grandpa? Mason’s first set of wheels!  I have had a few emails about how to make this and so here is a post sharing some details.

The basic materials are simple:

• a Bumbo seat and bolts (You could use whatever seat works for your child I imagine)
• a platform (ours is wooden)
• four casters (ours are about 2.5 inches tall) and the bolts to attach them to the platform
• two wheels/tires with bearings and bolts (Ours are 12.5in. x 2.25 in. We bought these right HERE.)
• metal that fastens to the bottom of the platform and then angles up the sides.  This is what the wheels are bolted to through their bearings (there is no axle going through the seat).

Here is a view of the wheelchair from the bottom of the platform.  You can see the four casters.  Along the right and left you’ll notice where the metal is bolted to the platform. A close up of a caster.If you look closely this is a view of the metal plate that a wheel attaches to.  It looks like that bolt goes into the seat but it really is just pressing against the foam a bit.  There is nothing going under the seat for the wheels.  Here you can see the back of the wheelchair.  The other thing you might notice is Great Grandpa added wooden hubcaps that he stained black on the wheels. 

Our Experience:

We do not expect Mason to figure out how to wheel around with this yet.  He’s still only 8 months old.  It is likely he will begin to figure it out between 14-16 months old and then will be free to race along at his own pace.  For now he can sit in it, play with the wheel texture, and enjoy playing and looking at things from a different perspective. 

We did let his 22 month old brother Caleb climb in for a minute to see what an older child could do in a few minutes.  He figured out how to go forward and backward in less than 4 minutes and could do either one if asked.  That is at not quite 2 years old with no prior experience.

I look forward to Mason finding his own independence with his wheels in the coming year! 

If you have any questions about his wheelchair just leave a comment or email me ( tdrowlee@yahoo.com ) and I’ll try to answer them.