Projects for a ten year old

My son loves making items and is very artistic. I bought his a junior woodworking tool set but unfortunately it has just sat there as I am unsure as to what to help him to make. All the woodworking magazines are for adults. I do not have a lot of money to buy big pieces of wood for projects.

Can any help me either by suggesting a project that will not require much wood or pointing me in the right direction for a group he can join.

Regards

Reply to
firebladexl5
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My son loves making items and is very artistic. I bought his a junior woodworking tool set but unfortunately it has just sat there as I am unsure as to what to help him to make. All the woodworking magazines are for adults. I do not have a lot of money to buy big pieces of wood for projects.

Can any help me either by suggesting a project that will not require much wood or pointing me in the right direction for a group he can join.

Regards

Reply to
firebladexl5

It sounds like money is the big factor here.

Can you afford to buy a Skil circular saw, a straight edge, a jig saw, and a sheet of plywood? He could make a lot of stuff with that.. but it will probably set you back about $100-150.

If you don't want to invest that much, you can buy the smaller sheets of plywood and a jigsaw.

He can paint his projects when he's done, and either use nails or screws to fasten the pieces of plywood together.

Failing that, you are pretty much left with the precut birdhouse kits and stuff like that aimed at kids. Not very creative, but maybe it will introduce him to the hobby.

Reply to
bf

Some projects I recall from my High School woodworking classes:

  • A shoe rack (two end panels joined with dowels)
  • A small/simple jewelry box with a drawer
  • A wooden serving tray
  • A desk organizer

Hope that helps and maybe provokes a few other ideas.

Reply to
Malcolm Hoar

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Reply to
Joe Gorman

How about a simple tool box? That way he'll have something to put his tools in. All you'd need is a few 1x6 pine boards and a dowel for a handle. DAGS for kids toolbox plans.

As for a group, I'd imagine that the Boy Scouts do a woodworking segment or two.

Mike

Reply to
Mike

gravity bookshelf

birdhouse

paper towel holder

queen anne highboy ;) (just kidding, gimme a break)

Reply to
George Max

One of the first projects I remember doing as a kid, besides "covering a

2x4 with roofing nails", was a rubber band paddle boat. A google search should bring up plenty of hits. I'd also bet that the library is full of books about wooden toys, folk toys, etc.

I'm not sure what a "junior woodworking tool set" contains, but I'd try to get:

Tack hammer & Medium sized claw hammer. Coping saw. Miter box and saw. Bit Brace (manual drill) and bits. Looks like:

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few C-clamps and/or bar clamps. Combination square. Tape measure. Screw drivers.

You'll notice I don't recommend any power tools. They're really not necessary for small projects. Besides, a brace and bit is much more fun than a drill.

materials: Wood glue Assorted nails (including roofing, box, and brads, etc.) Assorted screws. Assorted sand paper and/or sanding sponges.

1/4" & 1/2" thick poplar. (something in the neighborhood of 4"x36" or 6"x48") (Should be relatively cheap and available at the local big box store. Home Depot carried them last time I looked.) A few 1x2, 1x4, 2x2, and 2x4 boards. An assortment of dowels. And finally, visit
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Look under "bulk specials." Consider getting: 25 LBS Box Filled with Assorted Wood Pieces for $32.99. 1 LBS Geometric Shape Assortment Bag for 2.99

If you have a cabinet shop near you, or if you know a finish carpenter, ask them for some cut-offs or scrap wood for you kid.

Reply to
Mike Paulsen

How about a rubberband gun

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Reply to
damian penney

I recommend "Woodworking with Kids" by Richard Starr. He has several different projects with for different skill levels and explains common problems that kids have when building the projects. The book is aimed at adults who are teaching kids to do woodworking. You can get a used copy from Amazon for less than $8.

Mark

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Reply to
Mark Wells

Can't help you with the projects, but I have a suggestion. For inexpensive wood in small quantities suitable for a kid's project you might want to rummage in the cutoffs bin at Home Depot.

Jerry

Reply to
jerry_maple

Pencil holder. At its simplest, just some holes drilled in a scrap piece of

2x4.

-- Mark

Reply to
Mark Jerde

Find a local construction site, drive him there and have him ask the workmen. Just last week I had a kid come on the job and he left with more wood than he could ever have hoped for....and a big smile. Stay away from big overly commercial operations as the insurance reg's won't allow you on-site. Find a local operation if you can. One word of caution - Job sites can be dangerous in certain stages - make sure the workmen see him.

Good Luck, J

Reply to
Joe Bemier

snipped-for-privacy@googlemail.com wrote in news:1164215732.584038.245790 @h48g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:

How about CO2 powered racecars? Using a CO2 canister for paintballing, you drill a hole in the end of a 2x4 to hold the canister. The track is a fishing line (or other light line) attached between two fixed points and strung between eyehooks on the bottom.

Set the CO2 off with a hammer and sharp nail. The car should easily go

100 ft with a standard ~3 inch long cartridge.

You can also do CO2 boats, but you've got to have some place to run them. My shop teacher split a long (maybe 24'?) sewer pipe and dammed the ends to make a channel for us to run our CO2 boats on. The boats are considerably more difficult to do than the CO2 cars, though.

Puckdropper

Reply to
Puckdropper

If he's artistic you might interest him in woodcarving, or making those little animal figures that sit on a fence.

Carving doesnt need much in tools , or much wood. There are usually books on carving at your local library.

Building supply places sometimes have an offcuts bin where you can get small pieces of wood fairly cheap.

Reply to
marks542004

You might want to check out some books by John Nelson. He has tends to have lots of small projects it his books. I don't know exact titles off hand, but something along the lines of "Weekend Woodworker" & similar titles.

If you can swing the cost, a scroll saw is a great tool for kids. Lots ot toys, model making, art & craft work, & other small projects. low end saws $150-$200 or so, from Delta, Dremel, etc, vibrate but otherwise can do good work. My daughter (with supervision of course) started using mine when she was 7 or 8.

Reply to
lwasserm

Gutters.

Reply to
B A R R Y

I was thinking the same thing... 21 foot lengths are readily available from local lumber yards that cater to the trades (I haven't seen them in the big box stores). We use 10 foot lengths for the Cub Scout Raingutter Regatta sail boat races.

John

Reply to
John Grossbohlin

Thank you everyone for your suggestions for my son.

I have now ordered some books that were suggested and can not wait to start projects with him.

Thank you for the mention of offcuts from building sites. There is a building site just up from his school and normally I would never have thought of asking but I did. I returned after school hours expecting a few pieces of wood and had to return in a car to pick all the pieces up. I also asked the local glazing company (as I noticed they do replacement windows etc in wood) they have promised me all the off cuts as they are normally just taken away and burned. The glazing company were glad that the offcuts were going to some use.

My son has now arranged his tool set and I now have a list from him of the other items he will need to get going.

You do not know how much you have helped especially as my son has ADHD and slight autism. Woodworking and drawing are the only activities that keep his attention for more than thirty minutes.

Regards Nikki

Reply to
firebladexl5

Back when I was 10 years old (long time ago) making toy wooden boats was all kinds of fun, AND you could play with the boat after making it. All it takes is a few scrap pieces. The biggest piece becomes the hull and gets a pointed bow sawn on one end. A smaller piece is nailed on top of the hull to form the cabins. Another piece is nailed crosswise on top of the cabin to form the bridge. For real class, bore a 3/4" hole in the top of the cabin and insert a bit of dowel to be the funnel. Dimensions are non-critical...

David Starr

Reply to
David Starr

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