Huxley Briggs, 5, makes, sells toy wood blocks in Whitehorse

Five-year-old Huxley Briggs says he got the idea to make his own wooden blocks when he saw some wood in his dad’s shop.

“I thought, OK, I could use these blocks for something good,” he says. “I thought of something for them and started planning it.”

Huxley got to work, using his dad’s sander, table saw, chop saw and a thickness planer — mostly by himself. 

“I’m doing about 10 per cent and that’s the really fine cut on the chop saw,” say Bernard Briggs, Huxley’s dad. “He does everything with the planer and he does 100 per cent of the sanding. It makes me nervous as a parent but he’s got good focus.”

The next step was deciding where to sell the toys.

Huxley settled on Angellina’s Toy Boutique in downtown Whitehorse.

“He came to counter and said, 'Can I speak to the owner?' And right away I kind of teared up,'" says Betty Stoke Burns.

“It kind of took my breath away just seeing this little child standing there with a bag of blocks with a homemade sign. This is just everything my store stands for.”

A mom and a Grade 1 teacher, she immediately said yes.

Next they settled on a price. Huxley proposed $6 a bag. Burns talked him up to $10.

“We talked about what it meant to write an invoice. He brought in an invoice a week later and I wrote him a cheque.”

The bags retail for $20 and Burns decided to donate the $10 profit to a charity of Huxley’s choice. He selected Big Brothers Big Sisters.

“We sold all the blocks in one day and had tons and tons of inquiries,” Burns says. “Our supply and our demand is a little bit out of sync right now.”  

Huxley already has plans for his profits.

"I put half of it onto Lego and put half on some knitting (supplies) for my sister and put the other half on my bank account."