The craft education concept

Working with wood offers a wonderful opportunity to create something special and design it according to one's own ideas. Skills such as fine motor skills, planning, and creativity are activated and refined in the process. Adult support is important when learning some craft skills. Equally important, however, is free play, experimentation, and self-discovery. The most intensive learning occurs through personal experience and one's own "mistakes." Children need time and encouragement for this.

Crafting with children - our tips

Preparation

Before you can begin, a few things need to be clarified. You'll need a good place to work. This could be a workbench or a kitchen table. In some countries, people even work on the floor. It needs to be suitable for you and offer enough space.

Is the necessary tool available?

Nothing is more annoying than realizing, in the middle of a beautiful construction project, that you can't continue due to the wrong or insufficient tools.

Are you in a good mood and have you planned enough time?

This is especially true for younger children – sometimes their mood or the timing just isn't right. If you notice that your child's concentration is waning while crafting, simply take a break or continue another day.

Precautions

Tools can be dangerous. To ensure children can work safely, some precautions must be taken when working with children:

High-quality tools in good condition are used.
The work area offers enough space and is well-organized.
Adults need to keep an eye on children's skills and also recognize signs of tiredness or lack of motivation. (If necessary, take a break and continue later.)
When sawing, drilling, and filing, the wood must always be secured with one, or preferably two, clamps or in a vise. If the child has difficulty with this, the parents should assist and ensure that the workpiece is firmly fixed.

work pace and working hours

Alle Kinder haben ihr eigenes Tempo und arbeiten verschieden schnell. Das ist abhängig von Alter, Fertigkeiten, Erfahrungen aber auch von der aktuellen Stimmung und Verfassung.
So lange ein Kind Spaß am Werken hat, ist das Arbeitstempo unbedeutend. (Die Zeit sollte allerdings gut bemessen eingeplant sein.) Kinder müssen ihr Tempo selber bestimmen. Das verlangt vom begleitenden Erwachsenen oft viel Geduld – auch wenn es manchmal schwerfällt, sich nicht einzumischen.

Die Ausdauer ist ebenso individuell: Besonders kleinere Kinder können mit großer Begeisterung Werken, und dann sehr schnell die Lust verlieren. Das ist in Ordnung und sollte akzeptiert werden.
Da Holzwerken etwas zeitaufwändiger ist, kann gut in Etappen gearbeitet werden. Die Abschlüsse der einzelnen Seiten unserer Anleitungshefte bieten beispielsweise jeweils einen guten Zwischenstopp.

Skilled craftsmanship

Children develop their manual skills slowly. They often have difficulty accurately assessing their own abilities. Many tasks are harder than they appear when performed by adults. This can sometimes lead to disappointment.

It's important not to discourage a child with statements like, "That's too difficult for you." Often, simplifying complicated projects beforehand and adapting them to the child's abilities helps. However, this shouldn't drastically alter the child's work.

This is how children work

Adults shouldn't expect young children to understand precision. In most cases, it's not important anyway. For children, it's not crucial whether everything is symmetrical and straight. While some adults appreciate perfection, it can spoil the fun for children. Children are proud of their creations, even if some parts are crooked or uneven. However, sometimes precise work is essential for the finished product's function. If this is the case, it will be clearly indicated in the instruction booklets.

Children want to see what they've accomplished. A sawn-off board or a drilled hole is obviously recognizable. With finer tasks, such as smoothing with sandpaper, the progress isn't so readily apparent. However, by repeatedly feeling the surface, children can still notice the differences. Many children like nice, smooth, rounded surfaces. Sanding is a task that can easily be done alternately and "on the side," for example, during a conversation or while listening to a story.

Recognition, judgment

Children appreciate praise, but not for perfection, not for a perfectly straight saw. Far more important are appreciation and genuine interest in their work and their own ideas. A child should feel that their own thinking and imagination are valued. Children don't always have to explain and justify why they did something a certain way. Not everything has a reason that adults can see. Under no circumstances should children's work be judged, especially not by adult standards. This applies to wooden creations as well as pictures and other things. A child's work must satisfy themselves, not an adult.

Let them work freely

Our project ideas are merely rough guidelines, suggestions, and ideas. When crafting with children, there's nothing better than pursuing their own creative ideas. The project suggestions can and should be modified. If children have ideas for doing something differently, then these should definitely be accommodated – always within the realm of possibility and with a good assessment of their abilities.

More tips

Sägespäne am besten mit einem Staubsauger wegsaugen, so entsteht weniger Staub, als beim Fegen.

Leim lässt sich in noch feuchtem Zustand einfach mit kaltem Wasser abwischen.

Zum Werken bietet es sich an, eine Schürze oder ähnliches zu tragen, besonders wenn das Werkstück hinterher noch bunt bemalt wird.

Werkzeug braucht gelegentlich etwas Pflege, zumindest Leim oder Reste von Sägespänen sollten regelmäßig entfernt werden.

Why wood?

Wenn Kinder Holz mit funktionsfähigem Werkzeug bearbeiten, stärkt es ihr Selbstbewusstsein.
Holz ist ein (mehr oder weniger) hartes Material. Es stammt von Bäumen, die bis in den Himmel reichen, ein Symbol der Stärke. Das spüren Kinder. Auch wenn Kinder verhältnismäßig klein sind, haben sie die Macht Holz zu formen und etwas daraus zu werken. Dies ist eine ganz besondere und stärkende Erfahrung.

Wood feels good and warm; contact with wood is a natural experience. Wood is a natural material with individual grain patterns. No two pieces are alike. This individual character stimulates the imagination.

Wood is a sustainable raw material. Many constructed pieces can be disassembled and reused. If it is no longer needed at some point, the wood can be composted or burned in a campfire.

Why tools?

When children use tools, they learn about a second important material in human development besides wood: metal. Metal cuts and shapes wood.

Werkzeug verlangt Respekt und Achtsamkeit im Umgang. Die falsche Handhabung birgt ein Verletzungsrisiko. Die richtige Handhabung dagegen gibt Macht zur Veränderung. Zu lernen mit etwas, was auch gefährlich sein kann, richtig und achtsam zu hantieren, stärkt das Selbstbewusstsein und die Verantwortung für das eigene Handeln.
Die Kinder lernen Geschicklichkeit, Respekt, Verantwortung – und erkennen, dass sie selbst etwas verändern können. Die Benutzung von Werkzeug ist ein entscheidender Schritt in der Menschheitsentwicklung. Im Kleinen durchläuft jeder Mensch die entscheidenden Entwicklungsschritte individuell. Auch die Art und der Umfang der Werkzeugnutzung verfeinert sich mit der Zeit.

Our tools are also suitable for therapeutic work with natural materials, for example in occupational therapy. Montessori and Waldorf schools and kindergartens will also find what they need with us.

Here you will find further crafting tips, information and support for crafting with children.