by Betty Carew

Created on: June 25, 2009   Last Updated: July 05, 2009

The benefits for children through woodworking are immeasurable. The counting, measuring and problem solving is only a few of these benefits as your children work with wood. Woodworking is a time honored craft that can serve your children well. Here is where hands on learning come into play and the relationship of the hands and the learning comes to the forefront. If you want your children to have the opportunities and growth that woodworking can offer here is how to introduce children to the woodworking shop.

There are many ways to introduce your child to woodworking and it is as simple as buying a prebuilt kit at your local hardware store but this will not give the feeling of accomplishment like getting in there and starting from scratch. Working with wood can be a progression of mistakes and opportunities for your child. Kits can't provide the measuring and cutting of wood to produce something beautiful that was just a piece of wood before your child started.

Safety first

1.-Kids just don't have the knowledge of cause and effect and this is the reason they should be supervised at all times. Regardless of the fun that's involved there is danger in working with tools.

2.-Never let a child work without adult supervision. Regardless of how old they are they are not responsible or experienced enough to work with tools on their own. Even if it means they are just using a hammer, they need guidance.

3.-Always secure their work with clamps or a bench vise. This will secure the wood their working on without causing accidents. A clamp or vise can prevent injuries or slips. This will be a project for you to make sure the clamps and vises are in place properly, smaller hands would have a problem getting them tight.

4.-If one of your children is ready to use a handsaw teach him to hold the tool with two hands or if he preferred one hand, teach him to place the other hand in a safe place like behind his back.

5.-Introduce tools slowly. Start with something easy such as pounding roofing nails into the end of a log, try them on gluing scrap board into a free form sculptor and decorate them.

6.-Stay with the child's age if they are 7 or 8 start them on using handsaws, planes , hammers, nails, glue and sandpaper always with supervision. This will prepare them for the bigger projects later. Depending on the child's age introduce different types of saws as they get older let them cut out curves in thin material.

Start by setting rules

1.-You should never let children

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>