My wife has volunteered (or insert other verb here) me to teach a woodworking class at a summer camp this summer. The kids will be 8-11 year old boys and girls, come from very disadvantaged homes. They will be with me for about an hour a day for 4 days.
I’m looking for ideas for a project to work on, besides the proverbial birdhouse. It would be something they could start and complete before leaving, involve simple joinery, fastening, and finishing. I would probably pre-cut any materials, so the kids could concentrate on putting it together, sanding, and finishing, but I want the kids to do something besides assemble some pieces, drive a few nails, and paint it.
Anybody have any ideas? Help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Paul
Anybody
Replies
I don't see any problem with birdhouses, but kids have mothers, and building something for mom can be a great source of pride. Small 'jewlery' boxes, or something along those lines might be thought. You can get away with 1/2" stock, or less, and you can make a lot of 12"x8" boxes with a small amount of material. Maybe pick up some felt for ling, etc.
You can skip the houndstooth dovetails, except maybe for the advanced students.
Birdhouses might not be appropriate, depending on where the kids live. If they're inner-city kids, you can see the problem. Sad but true.
Most kids that age could use a step for reaching things, no? Don't know if you could design a little step-stool that'd be interesting but not too complicated? The idea mentioned above about making something for mom is a great one.
My grandosn is 9-1/2, and he's really into boxes he can keep things in.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
I think a stepping stool is best :)
How about a CD/dVD storage rack?
Depending on the size of the group, you might split them. Let some do a birdhouse, others a scroll saw puzzle, and so on.
Birdhouse, step stool???? 11 year olds in 4 hours - sounds like a stretch. Of course it depends on how much milling is done before hand.
My first woodworking project was an animal silhouette. Cut with fret saw, pierced where necessary with drill, shaped with rasps and sandpaper and mounted on a contrasting piece of ply. Hand rubbed finish.
Taught us about grain direction (no thin parts on cross grain) use of basic marking tools, finishing etc. Something to give Mom too.
My kids attend a one week church camp at which some woodworkers help them assemble simple projects like tool boxes and foot stools.
The men pre cut the parts from pine and then help the children assemble them with glue and nails.
It is always the most popular craft site and the kids line up to participate.
GotAll10,
Here's the projects I start with.. First I start out having the kids make a bench hook out of pre-cut stock.. A little glue and few nails and a bench hook is done. That part takes a half hour or less. Then I have them build a picture frame. (pics below)
The picture frame requires.. Ruler, chisel (1/2" to 1"), router plane (one for every 10 kids or so), block plane, mallet, the new bench hooks, and sandpaper. Optional: A marking gauge, sanding block, and wax or oir for finishing.
This project uses very little material. A third a BF of clear pine, 1/2 sheet of sandpaper, and the optional finishing material(of course the bench hook stuff). Work time is about 2 to 4 hrs.
If you are interested in doing this project, let me know and I'll try to give you a step by step plan from memory.
The frame in the pics are unsanded and unfinished. That's what I had on hand. Sorry.
Wow, my pics came out way too large.. You'll have to download and view them I guess. Sorry.
There is a book available that might give you ideas:
Woodworking with Kids, St. Remy Media.
I have been working with 4-H woodworking since my oldest daughter was 8 (she's now 31), and more lately with "Santa's Workshop" and other child-oriented programs.
My recommendations:
- Make it something useful. Objets d'art and birdhouses are just not that interesting and useful.
- Make it with a few pieces, for this age and time, probably 4-6 pieces is the max. You may pre-cut pieces to dimension to make a "kit."
- Sanding is boring. Don't expect them to do it for more than a few minutes.
- If the pieces can somehow be "self-aligning" that is helpful. Think dados and rabbet joints.
- The easiest, most forgiving, finish is a wipe-on oil-varnish blend. You will probably only have a chance to put on one coat, though, with your schedule.
Boxes or toys are good choices.
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As an aside, I read this book recently and came up with some interesting concepts. This was designed for children not often schooled beyond 8 years, post-industrial revolution, pre-assembly line:
The Sloyd System of Wood Working
B. B. Hoffman, A.B., American Book Company, 1892
The Sloyd system has for its first object to give an indirect preparation for life by teaching branches of certain trades and by imparting a general dexterity to the hand – to train the hand as the obedient servant of the brain.
The second objective of the Sloyd is to develop the mental faculties, and at the same time to impart positive useful information.
The third object of the Sloyd is to make it a means of intensifying intuitions, thereby giving a clearer insight into the nature of things.
Sloyd aims to cultivate dexterity in the manipulation of tools. This is considered one of the secondary aims.
Choice of Models (i.e., Projects)
1. All articles of luxury have been excluded.
2. The objects have practical value; that is, they can be used
3. The objects can be finished by the pupils themselves without any help.
4. The objects are such that they can be made entirely of wood. This does not mean that requisite fixings, such as screws, hangers, hinges, etc., may not be employed, but that the child should not be required to make these things.
5. The work is not to be polished. This refers to the use of clear-varnishes, French polish, etc.; sand-paper may be used. The object is to encourage the children to work well, and not to think too much of the surface appearance.
6. As little material as possible is to be used. The lesson to be enforced is that the value of the model depends not upon the material used, but upon the amount of real work expended upon it.
7. The pupils are to learn to work both in hard and soft wood. It is not wise to have them work too much in the hardest kinds of wood, as it is a great strain upon their physical strength, and consequently would soon prove beyond their powers.
8. Turning and carving are to be used as little as possible, although both may be included. Experience has shown that they are not as valuable as the carpentry Sloyd. The time for manual work in the public school is of necessity limited, and to teach turning and carving for educational purposes would require as much time as is necessary for the Sloyd. Carving in all cases ought to be left for the end of the course.
9. The models must develop the pupils’ sense of form and beauty. In order to attain this object the series should include a number of examples of form, such as spoons, ladles and other curved objects.
10. The wholes series must be arranged so as to teach the pupils to use all the necessary tools, and to know and perform the most important manipulations connected with the wood-work. Each model ought to complete the preceding ones, and to teach the use of some new tool or some new kinds of wood. The models constitute a series only when there is a logical connection between all of them, each one being the supplement as well as the complement of its predecessor.
Hi Paul... Go to your local Home Despot and ask for the person who runs the 'small kids' work group. Take a look at the kits they use. One is a 'tool tote', and I find it a great project. It's simple to copy, needs little sanding (just to round off the edges) and can be used for storing anything. A cd-rack made of two square ends and 3 dowels is a good one also. Cut a standard (36") dowel in thirds, have the kids customize the end pieces and drill the holes. Use a template to mark the holes so you know that everything will line up.
Google 'BRANDINE'. They sell pre-packaged kits of all sorts of youth groups. They're based in Florida, but ship everywhere.
SawdustSteve
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