Farmers market

Wednesday Market 2

farmers market 1

Four minutes of the neighborhood kids playing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKvfMxHUtS0

Not long after I’d built the first set of Builder Boards’s I took them to a crowded children’s arts festival. I should have known, it was mayhem. Kids were walking on boards, bumping into each other, and couldn’t figure out what to do next. I had no way to limit participation. There were just too many kids. Or, wait… maybe… there just weren’t enough boards. What would happened if I had a truck load of pieces? This idea stayed with me until I retired when I set out to make the World’s Largest Set. I wanted to make this giant set from recycled, and wood left over,  from other projects. I started collecting wood. Plenty of good used wood is thrown away when it could be used, and as plywood comes in 4’ X 8’ sheets, if you need 1 ¼ sheets, or 2 ½ sheets or 4 ¾ sheets, some will be some left over. And that leftover wood sits waiting for a project.   I looked around my shop and found a surprising amount of 3/4” plywood for the smaller 2 and 4 notch pieces. I combed garage sales, Craig’s list, looked in the Reuse and Habitat Stores, and pestered my woodworker friends. Sometimes wood appeared outside my shop and I had no idea who it came from. I took apart bookshelves, cabinets, desks, and futon frames. Another good source turned out to be leftovers from a shop that made cabinets with CNC machines where I found materials for the roof boards for several sets not to mention some some very nice fir, walnut and maple for wall pieces. I spent the winter making pieces until, afraid to add any more weight in my van, I thought I better figure out how to use this king-sized set. Free leftover ½” and ¾” plywood from CNC projects at a local shop. A lot of it has a nice surface veneer, walnut, fir, cherry, or maple, and few voids, just right for Builder Boards.

My first opportunity came by chance when three kids saw me working in my open front shop and came over to ask what I was doing. I showed them a few Builder Boards and they went to work.  Mom, who was right behind them, immediately understood and asked if I would bring Builder Boards to a summer camp for foster kids which I did. Later that summer, after I’d taken Builder Board to the park several times I knew I was on to something. The next summer I loaded up the van and went to the summer camp for foster kids again, farmers markets, a fundraiser for a children’s museum, a children’s art festival, a local shelter for women and children, and to the park for a big neighborhood party. While I knew kids liked builder boards, I didn’t realize how interesting, absorbing and entertaining a giant set could be for families. Building became contagious with moms, dads, young kids, high schools kids, and grandparents all together. I’ve learned to arrange the pieces around on the grass and wait. It isn’t long before kids appear looking at pieces wondering what they are. I used tell kids they were like big Lincoln Logs, but these days many kids don’t know what Lincoln logs are, so I just ask if they would like to build something and show how the pieces fit together. Once one kid is building it snowballs. Soon all ages are building. Those not building, perhaps because they don’t have a child as an excuse, enjoy watching kids work and play. The younger kids, (2-5) often just like to put boards together without much thought to an overall structure. Many learn right away putting notch to notch will create something.

I don’t know how he got these pieces to stay together.

This little guy built this structure without much help.

Younger children enjoy the repetition of putting boards together and creating a structure, any structure. Older kids naturally want to build big, and there is an attraction to building something they can get inside of. Houses of various forms and towers are popular. Problems arise: what about a door? A bedroom? A window? Skylights? What happens when you run out of long pieces? What happens when a wall is built up all by itself? How do you make a roof? Kids figure out some of this by themselves but sometimes I’ll offer help, saying, “would you like me to show you how to build a roof?(or whatever).” Its an all ages event. I’ve seen an 8 month old (followed by mom) crawl from house to house watching bigger kids build. Two year olds are often busy with the two (and sometimes six) notch boards with (or without) help from their parents. I’ve seen 70+ year old grandparents building with their grandkids. Sometimes it seems moms, dads or grandparents are having more fun than the kids. A shy little girl spent a lot of time creating her own small space where she could sit and hand notes out to her grandmother.

Older kids built a house with a bedroom:

Two high school girls sauntered in and went straight to building a tower with one of the girls inside. The girl inside stuck her painted fingernail out through one of the slots and a wandering little girl went over to check it out. There ensued a few minutes of the finger popping out different slots, with the little girl trying to anticipate where, mixed with laughing and peeking through different slots to see inside the tower.

Every time I take Builder Boards out into the world and let kids play I see some structure I hadn’t seen before. Early this summer it was a table with a solid top>

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Before that It was a giant structure. You can tell kids there won’t be enough pieces to make a roof but it means so much more when they find out for themselves.

Or an airplane. This was built by the grandparent.

How about a short house with no door?

Or an arch? I had seen one arch before made by an adult but this one was more elaborate. The kids worked by themselves for a long time but were having trouble with the last few pieces so a dad who had been watching stepped up and helped with the last little bit. The kids were pretty excited.

A covered lawn chair?

Taking Builder Boards to community events was a real surprise for me. Although I knew kids liked Builder Boards, I had no idea how interesting, absorbing and entertaining a giant set could be for families, and friends. It never occurred to me building would become contagious with moms, dads, young kids, grandparents, high school kids, and two year olds, all building, and rebuilding, a kind of miniature village. For me it’s a privilege to talk with everyone, while watching kids having fun…and having to scratch their heads a bit to figure things out. I can almost see the wheels turning in their head as they work. A 9-month-old baby crawls between houses curiously watching bigger kids building, while mom follows behind. A boy asks, “How much does it cost to play,” and is surprised when I say, “nothing.” Later, he keeps showing up at my side asking for more pieces. Adults often mention how much they appreciate seeing kids play with something other than electronics. A teacher says, “I’m surprised to see kids who don’t do well in school are often amazing builders.” A young girl tries to boss other kids around but the others don’t pay much attention. A woman with a food booth stops by and offers me a plate of tamales for dinner. Kids ask, “Where did you get these boards?” And are surprised when I say, “I made them.” A young girl spends most of her afternoon helping younger children. A two year old builds a short tower and when she can’t reach the top anymore, she picks up a board with one hand, and reaches out to dad with the other. He picks her up and she puts the board on. Over and over again and over again. It made my day when a child shouts, “Builder Boards are awesome.”