Adults need to stop listening to the voices that tell them not to play, says a Nova Scotia man whose inner child is on full display with his huge hand-built toys.

“You’d be surprised by how many people want to play and talk themselves out of it,” said Allan Carver.

He’s built a 1.8-metre-tall bicycle, a robot dinosaur and a remote-controlled, ridable TIE fighter from Star Wars. He cobbles together used or recycled parts for his toys and says the internet allows him to learn the necessary skills in welding, woodworking, mechanics and electronics from others who share their talents.

Carver, who owns an advertising company, shifted his workshop from his house to a storefront space in Hubbards, about 50 kilometres west of Halifax, a place he calls the Mad Secret Lab.

“We reject rejection. We cultivate ideas that other people think are crazy,” says the lab’s Facebook page. He invites people to come explore and play in a laser maze or with a life-size Angry Birds game. Admission is free but Carver asks for donations for his next “crazy project,” which is turning a lawn tractor into the Batmobile.

“A lot of people talk themselves out of ideas and if they just went with it, you’d be surprised what you can do.”

-With a report from CTV Atlantic's Emily Baron Cadloff