For the past eight years, I have been introducing children to the delights of woodwork and have seen at first hand the enjoyment and cross-curricular learning that flows from it. As permanent artist-in-residence at Filton Avenue Nursery School, Bristol, I introduce many provocations in our nursery studio but woodwork consistently stands out as one of the best activities for engaging children in a profound way.
Children first need to be taught how to use woodwork tools and given the time to try out techniques in a safe and appropriate way. As they make their first tentative taps with the hammer, you can see that they are often apprehensive and question their ability to do it, but if taught properly and using the right equipment, they will quickly be able to bang in nail after nail with confidence and delight.
Once children have mastered the basic skills, they can move on to open-ended, creative explorations, by joining sections of wood and materials in a variety of ways. New layers of learning open up with each new tool and skill that is introduced, and with that children's creative thinking and imagination can be given free rein.
Woodwork brings enormous benefits to children's learning. It is an activity that they greatly enjoy and their levels of concentration, engagement and perseverance when working with wood are unmatched in other activities. Children often persist at challenging woodworking tasks for extended periods and it's not unusual for a child to spend an hour and a half deeply engaged in a project.
When working with real tools, children immediately feel trusted, valued and respected and derive a sense of responsibility. Once involved, the delight, satisfaction and pride in their own work and learning are clearly visible. This sense of empowerment and achievement provides a visible boost to their self-esteem and self-confidence.
Woodwork provides another medium through which children can express their creativity and offers experiences that become deeply embedded in their memory. As well as enabling children to think creatively, it requires them to engage in problem-solving and scientific investigations and presents endless opportunities for developing numeracy skills.
Physically, children are able to develop both their gross and fine motor skills, through the likes of using a saw, holding a nail in place and using both one-handed and two-handed tools. Hand-eye co-ordination is developed as children learn to handle tools with increasing control.
And throughout the whole process, children are presented with opportunities to develop their vocabulary, express their ideas and engage in dialogue as they discuss, reflect and modify their plans.
Woodwork is also embraced by the Education for Sustainable Development agenda, which encourages the teaching of skills to make and repair rather than consume and dispose. It helps prepares children for life in an economically and environmentally changing world. (See box, page 18 for a more detailed list of learning outcomes.)
EXAMPLE EXPLORATIONS
At Filton Nursery School and Children's Centre, the children have been involved in numerous woodwork projects. As their competence grows, projects can run over several months to allow a thorough exploration of ideas and designs and for the children to be engaged in the entire process. Throughout the projects, the children were allowed to construct their own learning as part of an inquiry-based learning approach. Here are some examples:
Sculpture project
The children then started to work on creating their own wooden sculptures. Just as a piece of paper is a starting point for a drawing, I have found that a great starting point for 3-D work is a piece of wood mounted vertically on a base. I then provided a huge box full of offcuts, in a variety of shapes, sizes and types of wood. The children chose pieces that they liked to include in their sculptures and joined the pieces together with nails or screws.
Through the project, the children were able to use an array of skills, think creatively and problem-solve, for example:
How can I best join these pieces together?
How can I get this nail to stand up straight?
What shape of piece of wood should I add?
I'm always amazed just how thoughtful children are in their arrangements and they also seem to have a natural understanding of aesthetics.
The next part of the project was to work together on creating larger sculptures. Here we discussed options and followed the children's interest. For example, could the sculptures be like totem poles? Or like a giant spider web? The children often chose to combine various types of material to create mixed-media sculptures. In one sculpture they used their skills with tools to deconstruct appliances and then use the parts to add to their creations.
We were able to leave the sculptures out in the garden and they looked great for months.
I have carried out similar projects with other settings, amongst them St Werburghs Park Nursery School, where I have a long-term post as artist in residence. As with the Filton project, we started with individual models before moving on to creating large group structures outdoors.
Creating a sound garden
In this project we started by exploring metal objects in an open-ended way so the children could become familiar with this new material. First, we explored the sounds that metal can make by hanging up various objects and arranging others on the the floor, then scraping, banging and rattling them. Every object seeemed to create a different sound.
Next, we began to think about the design of our sound garden before moving on to the construction. The children were involved in every stage of constructing the wooden supporting structure, taking it in turns to cut through the really thick sections and bolting them together. Next, they started to attach the metal objects, which involved all of their woodworking skills: sawing, drilling, hammering in nails, screwing pieces together and sometimes using the wrench and coach bolts.
Because the children were involved in designing the garden, it included the elements that they liked. In it they can create a wonderful mix of sounds and there is rarely a moment when a child is not playing in the sound garden.
Wooden frieze
We were invited to build a wall panel for our local hospital, where many of the children were born. It was a great opportunity for the children to create a permanent piece of work for the community, so demonstrating that children do have something to contribute to society and should be valued and respected.
We started by making the panel, then attaching many pieces of wooden offcuts to create a wonderful collage. There was a lot of hammering, drilling, sawing and screwing. After the panel was completely covered we painted it, first thinking carefully about colour and mixing our own shades.
The completed panel looked really striking and was much appreciated by the hospital, as it brightened up a dull corridor. The children visited the hospital to install the work and the local press celebrated the event.
Outdoor studio
This project evolved from our need for an outdoor studio and lasted a whole year. We felt that the children were capable of helping design and construct the building and that the entire process could further develop their skills and open up new areas of learning.
After looking at and discussing many examples of buildings, the children became architects, exploring designs using lollypop sticks, glue and paper. Next, we made small model houses in balsa wood and explored construction by investigating different ways of joining materials together. To extend the learning further, we investigated wood as a material by researching its properties and exploring trees.
We then started on the construction. First, we all dug the foundation, watched the concrete foundation being poured and, after the frame was erected, we constructed the walls. There were endless opportunities for developing the children's numeracy skills, including counting, matching, classifying, comparing, measuring size and weight and learning about shapes in 2D and 3D.
The project opened up many other explorations, for example, investigating pulleys as we used a pulley to lift the roof joists. The final stage was making and adding a chimney to make sure Father Christmas could get in.
BARRIERS
Despite the richness of learning and enjoyment that can stem from woodwork, practitioners are often daunted by the prospect of introducing woodwork for a variety of reasons:
'Surely, it is too dangerous!'
Practitioners often perceive woodwork as a high-risk activity and believe there is a high probability of a child suffering a serious injury. But our experience is that with the correct introduction, supervision and risk/benefit assessment, woodwork is a very safe activity. A Japanese colleague has been woodworking with young children for over 30 years with no serious injuries other than the occasional bumped finger or a small cut.
Indeed, woodwork provides children with an opportunity to experience and make their own judgements about risk in a controlled way. If they are going to hit the nail hard, they do know to move their fingers away. However, it is crucial for practitioners to be aware of any children that may need additional support and supervise them closely.
I would recommend introducing woodwork to children in the pre-school year, as children younger than that are less able to assess risk.
'If a child is hurt, we are liable'
Fear of litigation has a huge impact on settings' willingness to embrace activities with any potential degree of risk. The climate of risk aversion is now changing, thanks in large part to the Lord Young review of health and safety laws commissioned in reponse to our compensation culture. Among its recommendations, set out in Common Sense, Common Safety (2010) and accepted by the Government, was a 'shift from a system of risk assessment to a system of risk-benefit assessment' (page 37). The emphasis of the report was to encourage settings to embrace risk in a positive sense and not to allow it to limit opportunities for children.
'I don't know about woodwork'
Many practitioners have little experience of working with tools, so often lack confidence in introducing the activity. This can be easily remedied with some basic staff training, which can be a lot of fun for staff and enables them to share the experience of learning something new. It is certainly not necessary to have a specialist come in to do woodworking sessions with children.
'It would be too noisy'
In our experience, woodwork isn't a noisy activity. Noise levels are manageable within a setting but a woodworking area can also be set up outdoors.
'There would be so much mess'
Again, we have not found that mess is a problem. The children help tidy up, just as they would any other activity. They are careful to pick up all the nails - after exploring magnetism one child suggested we use a magnet.
INTRODUCING WOODWORK
To cut risk, avoid frustration and ensure children enjoy the full benefits of working with wood, practitioners should consider the following points when introducing woodwork into their planning:
Buy the right equipment. The right tools enable children to learn the skills and build confidence more quickly. For example, using a long-handled pin hammer will only make the task difficult for children and lead to frustration. What they need is one with a short handle, a good grip, a large head and of a reasonable weight. (See also box on page 21 for more information on essential resources.)
Build up your toolkit over time. A starter kit should include hammers, screwdrivers, a saw, a hand drill, a couple of G-clamps and lots of nails and screws. You can add to the toolkit as the children's knowledge and skills develop - woodwork lends itself to slowly adding new skills and tools. For example, children enjoy using wrenches and a small battery screwdriver with drill bits.
Invest in a workbench. At Filton, we use a regular old table and a small workbench, which can secure wood for sawing or drilling.
Use the right wood. There is no substitute for using balsa wood to start with as it is soft and easy to hammer nails into. It's also perfect for children when learning how to use saws and screws. It is, however, expensive, due to low worldwide stocks, so it is best to use it for the introductory stages and then, after the children have mastered the basic skills, move to using soft woods.
Pick a quiet spot for your woodwork area. You can position your workbench indoors or out, but always choose an area where there are few distractions. Children need to be focused and to keep looking at at what they are doing when they are hammering.
Introduce tools and skills gradually. When I introduce woodwork, the emphasis in the first couple of sessions is on children becoming familiar with the tools, acquiring the basic skills and gaining confidence. Initially, I teach the children to use a hammer, then to join pieces of wood together. From there, we move on to learning how to use screws and again join pieces of wood. These two basic skills alone are enough to open up opportunities for children to be creative and make, for example, aeroplanes and sculptures. I then go on to introduce the drill and G-clamps as these can make it easier to insert screws in softwoods. Children find it much easier to tighten screws if they first drill a small hole in the wood.
View woodwork as creative. For me it is important that woodwork is seen as a creative activity, involving open-ended resources and driven by the children's curiosity and imagination. If you try to plan your woodwork sessions around specific practical projects, such as building a bird's house, it will only lead to frustration and disappointment for the children.
Let children take the lead. Supportive adults need to be on hand to provide guidance on using tools and advice on any practical problems that may arise. Most importantly, they should ask many open-ended questions to focus the children's thinking and allow them to construct their own learning. If children are to be truly creative, they need to be allowed to follow their interests as well as to make their own choices and decisions.
Give children plenty of time to explore and experiment. This applies to both mastering the basic skills and engaging in the creative process. I usually ask children to sit at a table during the first sessions and allow them plenty of time to explore working with the tools and learning techniques in joining materials. Children should be allowed to develop at their own pace and find their own challenges. As children's skills and confidence develop, so too can the scale, variety and complexity of the project that they undertake. For example, once a certain level of competence is achieved, children can start experimenting with combinations of wood and other media such as string and recycled objects and move on to projects that can run over several months. At Filton, the children also use their skills with tools to deconstruct appliances and then use the parts to add to their creations.
SAFETY TIPS
Although woodwork can be a low-risk activity, practitioners need to be constantly vigilant about health and safety. So:
Ensure children are given clear instructions on how to use the tools safely
Start with a ratio of 3:1 for hammering and drilling
Always have a 1:1 ratio for sawing
When children are sawing, ensure the hand not holding the saw is away from the work and holding the bench
Make sure no children are in front of the sawing area, as they love to watch what is happening
Avoid nearby distractions - children need to be focused and looking at what they are doing
Avoid hard woods - there is a danger of nails rebounding
Wear goggles if there is any danger whatsoever of material getting in children's eyes
Be aware of any children with unpredictable behaviour and monitor appropriately
Be aware of any child that may need additional support, for example, if they have poor co-ordination
Remove any protruding nails from children's work before they take it home.
WOODWORK: CROSS-CURRICULAR LEARNING
Woodwork presents a huge variety of learning and development opportunities for young children. Here are just some of the outcomes across the six areas of learning. Personal, social and emotional development
- Feel valued by being allowed to use real, adult tools
- Build self-esteem and confidence and delight in a new experience
- Persist for extended periods
- Enjoy having responsibility
- Take pleasure in learning new skills
- Feel pride in their achievements
- Work alone or with others
- Be adventurous and overcome fears
- Express their ideas and develop their thinking
- Show increasing independence
- Maintain attention, concentration and motivation to learn
- Understand the need for safety and rules
- Learn to assess and take risks, sometimes without adult supervision
- Make own decisions and choices and construct their own learning
- Develop curiosity about how tools work and their purpose
- Express ideas and talk through plans
- Learn technical vocabulary
- Learn descriptive language, such as rough, bumpy, jagged, smooth, etc
- Document their projects and reflect on their experiences
- Respond to instructions
- Listen attentively
- Respond to what they have heard with relevant questions, actions, etc
- Engage in mark-making
- Match, sort and classify
- Measure size and weight
- Develop understanding of number
- Make comparisons
- Explore shape in two and three dimensions
- Use mathematical ideas and methods to solve practical problems
- Learn that tools have a purpose, how to use them and and to respect them
- Develop understanding of ideas, concepts and skills related to woodwork
- Learn about wood - its origins, uses and related materials
- Develop understanding of construction
- Develop an appreciation and respect for nature
- Learn about sustainable development
- Hypothesise, discuss problems and find solutions
- Select the tools they need to assemble and join materials they are using
- Learn to handle tools/objects and construct with increasing control
- Develop hand-eye co-ordination
- Use oneand two-handed tools
- Develop motor actions, such as pulling and pushing
- Develop fine motor skills
- Develop awareness of space, of themselves and of others around them
- Develop spatial relationships
- Learn new process to extend creative expression and creative results
- Think creatively and imaginatively
- Extend creative thinking through making connections
- Appreciate the beauty of wood: textures, bark, rings, sawdust, smell, etc
- Explore and combine materials, such as wood, fabric and string
- Create pieces over extended projects
- Delight in the creative process and final product
A GUIDE TO ESSENTIAL WOODWORK RESOURCES
Workbench The Black & Decker Workmate WM301 (£33) is a good buy, though it is best to trim the legs to make it the right height for young children to work at. A sturdy, solid wood workbench with a vice would also be a great addition to any woodworking area, though these can be quite expensive. Toolkit
Suggested tool kit with approximate prices
- Short, stubby hammers, £3.50
- saw, £10.00
- junior hacksaw, £4.00
- G-clamps, £2.50
- wrenches, £3.00
- spanners, £10
- pliers, £5
- short stubby screwdrivers, £2
- hand drill, £10-15
- drill bits, £10
- battery screwdriver and hex drill bits, £20
- nails, screw, nuts, bolts - quite a lot
- tape measures/rulers, £5
- wood glue, £5
- sandpaper, £3
- goggles, £5
Most of the tools are standard but there are three items that I would strongly recommend:
- The 8oz Stubby Ball Pein Hammer (around £6.00) - perfectly suited to young children
- Fiskars Hand Craft Drill and drill bits (around £15.00) - ideal for young children to hold and the mechanism is enclosed
- Bahco 300-14-F15/16-Hp Toolbox Handsaw 14in (around £10) - this Swedish saw is the right size to enable children to saw with ease.
To start, use 25mm round nails with a head, as these are a perfect size to use with balsa wood and are easy for children to hold. Once children can hammer in these nails, they can hammer away with any nail.
Always use cross-head screws as they are easier for children to use and start with small ones, ideally No 8s,3/4 in.
Wood
Start with balsa wood as it is so soft and easy to use. Then move on to soft woods once the children have mastered the basic skills. I find 25mm x 25mm box section lengths are perfect to start with along with some thin wood that can be cut into sections and used for joining. Some lengths of balsa wood 10mm x 10mm are good to use with children when teaching them how to use a saw.
Pine, cedar, fir, larch, redwood, poplar, lime and spruce are all examples of softwoods that you can use with children. One way to test if wood is soft enough to use is to press your finger nail into the wood and see if it leaves a small indent or leaves a mark when you scrape your nail along the surface. Soft woods can be bought from any timber merchant, but you should be able to secure a steady supply by asking parents, carpenters and builders for offcuts. The end grain of a tree stump can also make a good solid surface for practising hammering in nails. It's also relatively easy to source timber that is sustainably grown.
I recommend avoiding hardwoods and pre-formed wood such as hardboard and MDF. Hardwoods are much more difficult to work with, so could discourage children, and there is danger of nails rebounding when trying to hammer them in. While ply and MDF do not contain the toxins they once did, ply splinters easily and MDF creates an irritating dust when cut. If used, they should be presented already cut into shapes.
All the above tools are available from Bristol Tools, www.bristoltools.co.uk, tel: 0117 9247413
Balsa wood is available from Consortium, tel: 0845 330 7780 or Fred Aldous, e-mail: sales@fredaldous.net, tel: 0161 236 4224
AND FINALLY ...
I very much hope you will consider giving the children in your setting the experience of working with wood. For some children, it may be their only chance to enjoy woodwork as fewer primary and secondary schools offer it as part of their curriculum. As a practitioner, it is a joy to see children so proud of their achievements - it always leaves me feeling uplifted.
Pete Moorhouse is a professional sculptor and public artist and has been artist-in-residence in various early years settings. In addition to his permanent post as artist-in-residence at Filton Avenue Nursery School and Children's Centre, Bristol, he has a long-term residency at St Werburghs Park Nursery School and Children's Centre. He also collaborates on an international research project to promote woodworking in early years education. His book - Introducing Woodwork in Early Years Education - includes information on setting up a woodwork area, example risk/benefit assessments and potential activities. To order a copy, visit: www.woodworkworks.wordpress.com. For information on staff training: www.petemoorhouse.co.uk/education/, or e-mail: studio@petemoorhouse.co.uk