Today I was doing woodwork with around 110 kids at Roseworth Primary School, spread across 4 classes - mostly pre-primary and Year 3 kids. It was a great day.
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| Nice plane! |
We were doing what I call "free creative play". I had 16 of my small two-vice benches there, each one with hammers, nails, pencils and pincers. I had 6 tenon saws (technically carcass saws) at the sawing station, freshly sharpened. There were two big bins of wood pieces for the kids to dig into, and they supplied the creative enthusiasm. After I did a spiel and demo about safe and effective tool use, it was over to them.
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| One flying pelican... |
There was a steady stream of creations through the day, including aeroplanes, boats, bird houses, dolls furniture, birds and more.
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| Another nice plane. |
For many of the kids, it was their first time handling tools. In these gigs, it's not unusual to find a few kids who spend almost their whole time at the sawing station. They didn't make anything, except a pile of sawdust and lots of small pieces of wood. We had a few of those characters today. Fantastic.
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| Sailing boat. |
Even over a period of less than an hour, it is amazing how quickly the kids' newly acquired skills at hammering and sawing develop. Their confidence develops simultaneously. It is a wonderful thing to watch as it all unfolds. There was something for everyone to learn - including the teachers and parent helpers.
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| Great house! |
Learning to use tools is an empowering experience. There needs to be more of it!
