looking for projects for scouts 10 years olds Thanks
John Schultz
Thanks for any input you guys can give me. John Schultz
Den 5 Pack 236
arbarnhart
My local library has a few books on woodworking projects for children. I bet
yours does too.
-Andy
"John Schultz" <jsch...@techheadnet.com> wrote in message
news:tr27n7k...@corp.supernews.com...
Brian Elfert
>Looking for projects that are simple fro scouts to do 4th grade level.
>Thanks for any input you guys can give me. John Schultz
It so happens that I worked on staff at a cub scout camp this summer, and
worked the crafts station one weekend. (I'm much lot older than typical
camp staff, but they were desperate for help and I had a few weekends
free.)
The 2nd graders made little boats out of a block of wood with a dowel to
hold up a paper sail. The 3rd graders made tool boxes from mostly precut
wood. The 4th graders made penny hockey boards.
A penny hockey board is a 1/4" sheet of waferboard cut about 18" by
12". The boys cut two sides from a 1x2 and nail them on. They also cut
two ends and an adult chisels a hole for the goal. Another piece is cut
for the middle and gets two holes. Two people then use their fingers to
flick a penny back and forth. The board in the middle really makes things
a challenge.
Most of the projects looked like crap, because the scout camp bought the
cheapest junk wood they could find. The full time staff that cut the wood
during the week didn't give a darn about how the wood turned out. Many
pieces were miscut.
I'd buy nice woodworking project kits like the ones Home Depot uses for
Kid's workshops, if you can afford it.
Brian Elfert
Dave Mundt
On Wed, 26 Sep 2001 02:33:40 GMT, bel...@visi.com (Brian Elfert)
wrote:
Hum...Well, I have not been a camp councilor, but, I have cut
MANY projects for Vacation Bible School, Scout projects, etc (one of
the joys of having siblings very active in the scouts and friends who
are Directors of Christian Education...)
To a certain extent, it depends on how much time the craft
needs to take. The above mentioned program would likely be a good,
small project. I suspect, that with some adult assistance, more
complicated projects would be feasible, but, would take longer.
As an example, a few years ago, I cut out all the parts for
about 15-20 birdhouses that were a two day project for a group of kids
of that age group. That was a GOOD, long Saturday's work, I have to
say, as I was working on it alone. In any case, this was a project
that required nailing four sides together, tops to the sides and a
bottom piece set in. I went ahead and put in the support blocks for
the bottom, and, I understand that OTHERs pre-drilled holes in the
sides for the brads. It was a pretty straight-forwards project, as I
recall, the front and back were about 3" wide and 6" tall, with a 45
degree point. The sides were about 3" tall and 2 3/4"" wide. The
roof panels were about 3 1/2" wide and 5" long. The bottom (roughly 2
3/4" by 2 3/4" was loose, and sat on a couple of small cleats set at
the bottom edge of each side. a short section of 1/4" dowel was cut
to about 2" long and set just below a 1 3/4" hole drilled in the
"front" of the house. All this was cut out of 3/8" plywood, simply
because I happened to have enough scrap of this thickness on hand to
do the job (cheap was a BIG factor here).
Of course, if you want to house larger birds, simply scale up
the dimensions...and, of course, build one FIRST...I am pulling these
numbers out of the dark and fuzzy recesses of my mind, so they are
pretty much approximate. And, depending on the internal dimensions
wanted and the thickness of the building material will force the
dimensions to change a bit.
The next day, after the glue had dried, the kids had WAY too
much fun painting and decorating the houses in amazing ways.
It was a fairly big project to cut out, and build, but, the
kids really enjoyed it, and, took home something that they could
either put outside and use as a REAL birdhouse, or, give to mom to
treasure.
Sorry to hear about the rough work on the parts for the other
project though. That is the difference between letting a
craftsperson do it, and, dumping the job on overworked camp staff.
Regards
Dave Mundt
John Schultz
forward them to me Thanks for that. In the past I have made projects of
Bird houses and tool boxes and trophy stands looking for those different
things That I haven't thought of yet. Thanks for the input
John Schultz
Pack 236
Jsch...@techheadnet.com
Dave Mundt wrote in message <3bb17398....@basic.bs.webusenet.com>...
Dan Hunting
I was determined not to produce the usual crappy projects. It's hard
to have 10 kids make something nice in the space of a 1-2 hour meeting,
but we were able to do it. I realized that we were going to have to use
power tools to get the job done. Everything was jigged and guarded so
that there was no way they could get their hands near the blade/bit.
We made a nice little CD rack that everyone liked. It's basically just
a notched stick, tilted back about 10 degrees and screwed to a base.
Here's how we did it. (all the materials were scraps, BTW.) I cut some
3/4" black melamine into pieces about 5x8" for the base and edgebanded
everything. Took 8/4 cherry and milled it down to 1.5x1.5x16". Set up
all the jigs and let the boys into the shop and have them do the
following, with adults standing by and supervising each step:
1) Take your stick of cherry, and put it in the tablesaw jig. (It's like
a finger-joint jig, with a dado blade and a stop, but with lots of
guarding.) Push jig through saw. Pull it back. Move stick to next
notch. Repeat 12 times.
2) Using neander miter box, cut end at the proper angle.
3) Go to heavily guarded and featherboarded router table. Push the
stick through 4 times to round off the corners.
4) Sand your stick nice and smooth by hand.
5) Put stick and base into that cool looking jig with the toggle clamps.
Drill pilot holes through base and into stick. Put screws in pilot holes.
6) Put on rubber gloves and smear linseed oil over the whole thing.
7) Put little felt dots on the corners of the base.
It looked pretty cool, gave the kids a feeling of using the tools, was
useful, and most importantly, it wasn't a damn bird house.
email me if you need more info.
- Dan Hunting
DH Custom WoodWorks
Brian Elfert
>Last spring, I worked with my son's Webelos den on their Craftsman pin.
> I was determined not to produce the usual crappy projects. It's hard
>to have 10 kids make something nice in the space of a 1-2 hour meeting,
>but we were able to do it. I realized that we were going to have to use
>power tools to get the job done. Everything was jigged and guarded so
>that there was no way they could get their hands near the blade/bit.
Do realize that Cub Scout rules prohibit the use of power tools by the cub scout. (Yes, some of the scout
rules are WAY too restrictive, but our society is sometimes too sue happy.) Boy Scouts can use power tools,
as there is a woodworking merit badge.
I applaud you for coming up with a useful woodworking project, rather than a junk project like the cub
scouts at the camp I helped with worked on. Today's kids are much more sophisticated, and making a cheesy
toolbox doesn't excite most of them.
Brian
Grant P. Beagles
to a bit and brace and other neaner type things!
Brian Elfert
>I believe that the Woodworking merit badge is also done with hand tools only. The requirements make reference
>to a bit and brace and other neaner type things!
You might be correct. I took the badge back in the lates 80s, so my memory may be fading. I had already
taken high school shop class by then I know.
One of the requirements for the badge talks about using a lathe, so power tools don't seem to be out of the
question.
Brian Elfert
John Schultz
the kids so they only have to nail and glue and then paint. We always use
good wood due to the fact that my neighbor is a lumber saleman LOL Makes
life fun. But I do understand about the use of pwer tools. We have done a
"few" things Like scrol saw and the like but only with the parents present.
Thanks one and all for the letters so far and again nothing is out of the
realm of possibility when the kids aren't the ones doing the actual cutting.
Thanks again. John Schultz Pack 236
Taylorc...@lycos.com
>Last spring, I worked with my son's Webelos den on their Craftsman pin.
> I was determined not to produce the usual crappy projects. It's hard
>to have 10 kids make something nice in the space of a 1-2 hour meeting,
>but we were able to do it. I realized that we were going to have to use
>power tools to get the job done. Everything was jigged and guarded so
>that there was no way they could get their hands near the blade/bit.
>
I didn't see the start of this thread but I too didn't want the usual
crappy birdhouse when I was a Webelos leader. We did three projects
from kits that I fabricated. Having a slight Neander bent I didn't
let the kids use power tools on wood. A power drill was allowed for
the metal parts.
First up was a tool. I didn't have 9 hand saws so we started out by
making a simple bowsaw. I ripped up some oak and made up the blade
holders out of 3/8" bolts. The kids cut the oak to length, did M&T
joints for the stretcher, and drilled all of the holes. Now that they
had the saw they could build the other two projects. Skills taught
were measuring, cutting, morticing, drilling.
Next was a simple set of shelves that hung on the wall. Material was
from resawn 2x4's that were finished to about 1/4" thick. The boys
cut the pieces to length and glued and nailed the shelves toghether.
Skills taught were measuring, using a square, cutting, nailing.
Then came a set of wind chimes. I cut up a bunch of 1/2" conduit for
the kits. They cut out irregular shapes in the wood, drilled and
deburred the conduit and put it all together. Skill taught were
punching to start a hole in a round object, cutting other than
straight lines (intentionally :-) ), deburring, nailing, knots.
We had a lot of fun with it and some of the projects came out looking
pretty good. I did figure out that the kids didn't have a clue about
using a ruler or a square to do layouts.
Dave
Scott Clawson
1) Coat rack. I precut 4" x 18" x 3/4 pine, rounded the edges with a router
table. The kids cut lengths of 3/4" dowel about 4" long using a handsaw and
miter box. They drilled 4-3/4" holes at an angle in the pine using the
drill press, but this step could also be done using a brace and bit. They
glued the dowels into the pine and the next week they finished them with
poly. The biggest problem was the excess glue...
2) Tic-tac-toe boards. Precut some 4" x 4" 3/4 pine. We had the boys mark
out a checkerboard pattern on the pine and mark where 9 holes will be
drilled. They drilled 9 5/16" (or 9/32") holes using a drill press with a
stop to prevent them from drilling all the way through. As an alternate
they could use a hand drill (or brace and bit) with masking tape on the bit
to mark the depth of the cut. They then cut 8 dowels about 1" long from
1/4" dowel stock using handsaws. They then painted the boards and dowels.
Make sure that 4 of the dowels are painted a different color than the other
four.
3) Pencil holders. We used some scrap 4x4 redwood, which I precut into
lengths of about 3". The boys drilled holes big enough for pencils and pens
in the top then painted them.
We've also done toolboxes, candy dispensers (using canning jars), miniature
catapults, etc. The kids have had a lot of fun.
John Schultz <jsch...@techheadnet.com> wrote in message
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Philip Lewis
it's really not that difficult, if a table saw is within ability.
Glue up sheets of alternating squares of two different woods. (8 wide)
cut 1/4 in slabs (8 per finished board.) and rotate every other one by
180 degrees, and glue down to 1/4 plywood. Sand smooth and finish with
several coats of shellac.
Then get a dowel rod and cut small slabs for the pieces. Sand them to
thickness and have the kids write "King" "Queen" etc etc on each of
them, or draw/print out the standard pieces/names on a printer and cut
them out. (laminate them on with some shellac)
http://www.enpassant.dk/chess/fonteng.htm#CALPHA
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=chess+standard+symbols
Then finish the pieces in amber and clear shellac.
Do as much as you think is beyond the kids...
The only thing i really think which might be beyond them would be
cutting the glued up panels on the table saw (everything else can be
done with hand tools) If you think it's beyond them, you might be
tempted to do this ahead of time, but I wouldn't. Do it as a
demonstration, with a little talk on saftey and such, allowing for saw
kerf in measurements, etc. Or do the bulk of them ahead and cut out
one as a demonstration.
If you use better grade plywood....you can glue the wood to the bad
side, and draw lines to make a 9x9 "Go" board on the other.
Of course, if you wrap the finished board in wood, there will be
enough of a lip to play on the checkerboard side. :)
--
be safe,
flip
^___^
\^.^/
==u==