Woodsies Woodshop

It is a Center School tradition to ask students in September about their hopes and dreams for their upcoming year together. In the forest this year, there was a lot of interest in using “real tools”, specifically the real woodcarving tool kit that lives in our indoor classroom that some of the second year students remembered. Over the past six years of forest school children have been content using potato peelers to carve points into sticks. Usually a stick gets debarked and then lost in the leaves, but some become treasured weapons used in play to fight imaginary foes. Some sticks belong to a treasured collection that shows one’s carving progress, or some are used as a roasting stick for a Tasty Things.

Over the Winter when most of our base camp was blanketed in snow and broken tarps that housed ample subnivean creatures, the carving studio didn’t get used at all, but as soon the Woodsies moved back out when the snow was gone; they remembered the work we had done in the fall to make space for the wood shop in the Spring. “When will we get the real carvers?” Sam asked during our first week back outside, and many echoed his enthusiasm for more tools and more possibilities.

After a week of settling into base camp and reminding our bodies of the rhythms of being outside, and how to take care of the outdoor space, it was time to grant some wishes. We reopened the woodshop with a safety refresher before we scaffold in the new real tool use. 

Woodshop Skills

Step 1 Potato Peelers

Safely carve some stick strips off a stick.

Step 2: Hand drill

Make a hole and claim it with your name so you can take as long as you need!

Step 3: Hammer and nails and safety goggles!

Choose your wood, mark it with your name and get busy sharing the supplies. 

Step 4: Saw and safety goggles!

Start a groove, and find a rhythm, use your progress to help hold the saw blade in place and remember, don’t start fast, be patient because you are teaching new muscles to work together. Trust yourself to be safe.

Eager woodworkers got right to business showing that they could carve sticks, and moved right on to the hand drill where a natural bottleneck occurred. There were many interested children but only two tools. Luckily “ownership” and specifically “co-ownership” has been an underlying theme this year, and children are great at taking turns or offering help when a friend's hands got tired. 

When hammers and nails were introduced, an almost constant sound of industry now sings from the center of our basecamp. Children excitedly encouraged each other's creations, shared ideas, asked for help, and naturally started pairing up to start projects together. Some children just started winging it, and others talked through a plan before setting a nail, and some just tinkered around and took apart before leaving their ideas together. 

“Can we put these in Museum?!” they kept asking. This was not our original museum plan, but their enthusiasm for sharing with the community their in process learning was a hard thing to deny, so we said yes and interested parties shared their experiences working with wood.

Projects in Process

Rainbow Splotched

Whitney

I just found these two beautiful pieces of wood and I was like, “Maybe I should make something…” And then I was like, “I don’t know what to make...” so I was just like, “Maybe I’ll make something like graffiti but out of wood and nails.”

The Nail Board That I Started Yesterday 

Frances 

I was excited to use a hammer and nail first, so I asked Amy if I could do it before drilling my hole and she said, “Yes.”  I said to myself, “I will try some of the nails.” Then it worked out great, but yesterday one of the nails was kind of wiggly, so I decided not to keep it in and I took it out.

Circus

Liliana 

I named it ‘circus’ because this thing reminds me of a little circus for a little animal. I used a hammer and nails. I put a nail in one of the doughnut things.

Nova Rodgers

The Valley of Vegetables

I’ve been having a lot of ideas lately! I had an idea to build ‘The Valley of Vegetables.’ I think it’s a really good idea because there seriously is a valley to the garden of the vegetables. Don’t worry, it’s gonna look more like a garden once I color it. One thing that I really like about it is that it is covered with nails. I’m still working on it. I’m feeling really good and confident that I’m gonna finish it today.

Sam Murphy
The Sculpture 

I just made it by hammering nails into boards. It has 200 nails in it

Korra Keramaty

Untitled

I just nailed all the things together.

Fred Miller
Fun Hub

I made it with hammers, nails, washers, wood and stuff. It was easy! I like that it is made out of all nature.

Dash Murray

Untitled

I think it’s kinda funny that I put the bandaid pieces in there.

Morning Meeting 

While they were in the woodshop working on their projects, they were constantly asking about saws: When will we get them? How many will there be? How will we know who’s turn it is? Why can’t we just have them right now? Can I just have a little turn? So we decided to make it a meeting topic. 

After going around the group, giving each person an opportunity to read words to help decipher the message, the group reads the message together to practice reading together, and some were ready to dive in ans share their opinions. 

Someone Ten!

Nova No, because there are 10 kids and only three hammers and there’s not enough for everybody. I don’t think there’s enough because there’s three drills I mean, two drills and three hammers.

Amy Well, good morning Math Brains! What if I told you there’s a math problem in the message? I’ll read it for you again, listen for the numbers this time. “There are three hammers and two drills and lots of nails. Is there enough materials for everyone? There are two questions I want you to answer. First, How many tools do we have? And is that enough?

Apollonia Can I solve the math problem? Five because two plus three equals five! (Amy writes her equation on the board)

Amy In Appolonia’s problem, this is the amount of drills, this is the amount of hammers and this is the total. 

2+3=5. But we can write it another way, see 3+2=5. In this equation, this is the amount of hammers, this is the amount of drills and then this is the total amount. There is a three in each and a two in each, same-same each time so it doesn't matter which order you talk about hammers or drills as long as you’re talking about both of those things, and then it gives you the same answer: Five. 

Amy Woooh, that is a lot of math. Let me see if I have this right,so you’re saying there’s five tools to use but there’s 10 kids– writing numbers on the board

Liliana There’s twelve kids in the class.

Amy Oops! You are right. There are not zero ones! How many ones are in the number 12?

Chase Two.

Amy So what do I have to write, five tools for 12 kids? Now we are at the second question: Is that enough?

Everyone Noooooooo!

Fred But there’s a bunch of carvers.

Liliana There’s gonna be saws too.

Amy How many saws would be safe to have?

Lots of voices 3, 5, 10, 12 

Amy How many saws? I heard a lot of numbers, but one was 12. That means that every kid would have their own personal saw to use whenever they wanted?!

Some Yea

Amy Can we just pause for a moment and think about that. Put your pretending hats on, and close your eyes and make a movie in your mind about it if that helps, and think about what it would look like if each kid had their own saw and they’re trying to cut wood at the same time all over the place, all at once?

Everyone silent chewing and mind movie making

Apollonia We would need more teachers to help us.

Dash Yea, ‘cause I don’t wanna get cut.

Amy That is very sensible, but how many saws do you think is a safe idea to have around if there’s just two teachers? 

Frances Two!

Fred Three because there are three teachers.

Nova There should be one. Because one person has to watch all the other kids, and how could two teachers help kids. But if two people were watching the kids with the saw, and all the other kids wouldn’t have a teacher to watch them. Like one teacher has to be walking watching the other kids so that one teacher watches and helps with the saw.

Cora I think there should be three saws because there’s three hammers to use.

Sam It might pop your blood bubble.

Dash I don’t wanna cut a boo-boo.

Amy We’ll teach you how to be safe so you’re only cutting wood

Fred why can’t we have more than one saw for the people who know how to saw cause I’ve used my dad‘s chainsaw before.

Sam I used a saw before. 

Liliana I have my own saw.

Chase Can I tell you something about what I was thinking about that math question when I was looking at the board? I came across, I was just thinking about the 100+34 and there was another thing I was thinking of I was thinking math could be the answer of the question if there was 3+2+ in it.

Amy Right! In math, that’s called a word problem when numbers and words are mixed together!

Nova Also I would debate on the chainsaw. So even though everyone has experience with chainsaw it might be a different chainsaw that’s harder to use, so you might get a teacher to help. And, even though there’s three teachers I don’t think Rebecca will help, because every time she comes, she’s usually tutoring and one of the teachers has to watch the kids so I think they should just be one chainsaw because there’s one teacher that’s gonna be helping with it.

Amy I want to clarify that we’re not talking about chainsaws, we're talking about hand saws. 

Nova I still think just one saw.

The next day there was one saw to use, and some very patient people waiting to give it a try, others waiting until their project requires it, many are happy in hammer and nail land and a few are taking their time being brave with real tools. Everyone learns at their own pace, and this cohort of children are consistently supportive of each other’s learning journey.

Ollie Ollie All Your Scraps! 

(Please and thank you!)

If you have any scrap wood, or miscellaneous collections of things to hammer and adorn like nails, washers, discs, bottle caps or fun bits like those little wingnut screws, or hinges that you would like to clear out of your junk drawer, or garage piles, we are accepting donations!

Please deposit your offerings in a black bin at the front of the school where the sap used to be stored near the Woodsies dismissal spot.