Carpentry and Woodworking - Kids' woodworking project? Christmas

Hi- Hopefully this question is not off-topic for this forum.

Next weekend we're watching my niece and nephew, and will have our 5 y.o. too. I'd like to get some kind of woodworking project together for the kids to make a gift for Mom and Dad.

Any thoughts/ideas? My thinking was to prepare everything in advance (i.e., get all the individual parts shaped/sawn/sanded etc) and "stage" it for the kids to assemble and paint. Preferably this is something that Mom and Dad might find useful, so the kids could say "I made that".

Anybody have experience with this kind of thing?

Thanks! Dave

Two things come to mind, although neither of which will likely be all that "useful" to mom and dad.

1. Home Depot one Saturday each month has kids workshops. They each get a kit project (it's different each month) The kit contains the precut shapes nails, etc. They supply little hammers and sand paper and paint and whatever else is needed. It's actually quite fun. At our local store, its usually the younger cute female employees that supervise and staff it which adds to the fun. Plus the kids get an apron and a pin.

2. I was at a local woodworking store, where I noticed kids wood working kits - cars, trucks, planes, etc. All of the parts are precut and supplied in the package. They were a little more advanced and require a little more coordination and patience (smaller parts) They were about $6.00.

Thanks- I'll check it out! (Especially the cute HD chicks!)