Woodworking 101

Want to expose your kids to an art that is often overlooked for the young? Woodworking!

Your mind might go immediately to the dangers – saws and splinters and injuries, oh my! But you can keep it simple and safe for your preschoolers. Christmas was the perfect time at our house – we set up an Elves’ Woodshop for the kids.

We set this up as a self-serve kind of station, where the kids could play whenever they wanted. So everything needed to be well-labelled, easily accessed, and easily tidied up. Here’s what you might want to include:

Small pieces of scrap wood sanded smooth so there are no sharp edges – the kids may want to stack with these or paint/marker/glue on them
Pieces of dowel that are different lengths – our kids made everything from drumsticks to magic wands with these
Sandpaper
Paint and paintbrushes, markers, crayons
Wood glue
Googly eyes, pompoms, ribbons, etc. to add to their wooden creations
Safety glasses, work gloves, etc.
A small child-sized hammer
A small screwdriver with screws
Elastic bands (kids will love screwing in two screws and stretching elastic bands between, bigger kids can use tweezers to do this for an extra challenge)