My First Woodworking Class with Young Children
It was the most meaningful, fun, and interesting woodworking I’d ever done.
Parenting Press Review of Woodshop for Kids
What we really, really like, however, are the life lessons that woodworking can teach.
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.
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.
Kids at Work, three short videos
Kids at work
Woodworking: Lowly Key Fob Unlocks Big Rewards
As you can see the simple key fob is not so simple from a 4 or 5 year old perspective.
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.
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.
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.
Builder Boards……24 Years Later
Recently a teacher friend completed a set with her class of sixth graders and told me an amusing story about teaching practical math. She divided the class into groups, gave each group a board and the plans, and told them to draw the position of the notches on the board. Of course, each group had the notches in a different position so….. they had to figure out which plan was right.
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 Update 2: Cutting the Notches
Eventually, someone suggested a shaper and that worked best of all.
World’s Largest Set of Builder Boards goes to the Park
After making the world’s largest set of Builder Boards from recycled and left over plywood, I took them to the park for a few hours. Ages 1 to adult played. Lots of dads and some teenagers. A good time was had by all. Here are some pictures: ...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.
Woodshop for Kids: Table of Contents
Below is the Table of contents from Woodshop for Kids
Summer Woodworking with Kids Class
This post has pictures of the shop and description of how I organized a class of 10 kids. In the morning it was 6-8 year olds and in the afternoon it was 8-12 year olds.
My Wife’s Toolbox
…..I’m not bad with a hammer and saw myself……It drove me crazy to go downstairs to his basement shop and look for the right tool…..
WOODSHOP FOR KIDS…is not just woodworking
…..kids in a hurry slow down, kids who think they can’t build anything learn they can, kids who think they know everything learn the don’t, and kids who need adult approval for everything learn to be a little more independent.