My First Woodworking Class with Young Children
It was the most meaningful, fun, and interesting woodworking I’d ever done.
Five Projects to Help Kids Learn the Craft of Nailing
Looking back at the first year I taught woodworking two mistakes were making projects too difficult and assuming kids could use tools. Wrong. Most kids had never picked up a tool, and the ones who had really didn’t know how to use them. Nailing is a perfect example.
Kids and the Hand Operated Drill Press
I bought this drill press many years ago and hundreds, of kids have used it. If kids can drill bigger and straighter holes it allows them to build quite a few more projects. They like the challenge of learning to use it and are proud of their new found competence.
Recycled Kitchen Cabinets.
We call it the “One Piece at a Time” remodel after the old Johnny Cash song. My wife wanted new kitchen cabinets, I don’t know why. Possibly because we had the same cabinets for 40 years and they had been used for years before we bought the house. Over the...
Woodshop Safety
…… experience taught me that even very young children can be trusted to use real tools. Fifteen years of woodworking with kids has confirmed this initial experience.
Builder Boards as an Eagle Scout Project
Boards ready for notching. The pattern for 10 notch, 6 notch, and 4 notch boards are on top of the proper length boards.
Some Other Things I Built
I had never built a log building before, let alone with eighth graders, but my supervisor said, no problem. He had a design and we worked out details each morning before the kids got there. No one was more surprised than I it worked so well.
Kids: Take It Apart
This is an electricity board made from parts taken from a VCR and a tape deck. It is powered by and electric train transformer. It got a lot of kids interested in electricity.
Builder Board Update: New Roof System
The new way to hold the roof boards on requires no hook and loop fastener….and keeps the kids from knocking them off from the inside of the house.
The Electricity Board
Electricity is a slippery subject. Its hard to wrap your mind around something you can’t see.
A Dollhouse from a Recycled Drawer
My wife got the idea to build a doll house for our grandkids and got a big drawer from the restore.
Free Plans: The Rope Machine
“Dad made a rope machine for me when I was a kid. He used coat hangers for the hooks.”. The following instructions detail how to build this rope machine patterned after the 1950s model built by my father for his son, in the spirit of the times, from materials around the house.
Builder Boards, a Cedar Set
Ford Pranther set me these two wonderful Bulder Board videos of a cedar set he built. The first set I built was using cedar boards, too. Its cheaper and you don’t have to worry about finishing, which is a big job. He shows another way to cut the notches with a...
Free plans: The Mirror Steeror
Children can steer themselves from short and fat to tall and skinny.
Solar Energy with Kids
Solar cooked hot dogs really do taste better
A Rube Goldberg Machine from a Treadle sewing Machine
when it quit working I’d say, “can you figure out what’s wrong?”
Four Speeds in Reverse
To save money, and as an antidote to book work, my college buddy Joe and I used to work on our VW’s together. VW Repair for the Complete Idiot was our bible and if it failed us Joe, who didn’t like big business capitalists, would consult VW of America and do the opposite of what they recommended.
Puzzles: Lucas and the engine puzzle plus the faucet, the door lock, and the flashlight
Mechanical puzzles: The Faucet, the Lock and the Lawn mower engine and more.
Free plans: The Marble Roll
Make this magnetic marble roll with the kids, then watch them enjoy constructing infinite paths for the marbles.