# For Those With Kids!



## Armourer (Dec 25, 2016)

Well I have a 4 year old boy who always loves coming into the shop with me and would like to do some projects with him but I am not sure what we could do. Does anyone have any suggestions on small projects we could do? Thanks!


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## 4GSR (Dec 25, 2016)

Got a bolt and nut bin that needs organizing?  Give them some plastic binds and let them sort them for you.  It won't be perfect, but will keep them busy for hours on end.  Their hands will turn black, but that's okay.  It'll wash off if mom doesn't it first.
My grand daughter will sort thru my end mills and drill I have laying on my roll away cabinet.  I find them scattered around the shop, she's three years old.  She got her first set of tools for Christmas today, they are all pink!  Including the tool box!


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## Ulma Doctor (Dec 25, 2016)

when my son was 4, 
one of the first things i let him do was to crank on the drill press quill actuator.
he loved to see chips being made in wood and aluminum and would derive great pleasure from just drilling holes in scrap
i also made sure i had lots of 2x4's and unwanted nails for him to amuse himself with.
most of the time he just liked banging on the wood with a claw hammer, just like music to his ears!
he liked shop clean up and pushing the broom around.

i made a simple toolbox for him, maybe you could do something similar
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/complete-hack-makes-a-wooden-toolbox.38056/

it was simple to make.

i really don't think it matters very much what you and your son make together, it will be the knowledge and the quality time that he will remember the most.
enjoy the very special time while you can, they grow up fast.


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## brino (Dec 26, 2016)

Hi @Armourer,

Are you asking specifically for metal working projects, or are wood based projects alright too?
If so, I have a number of small projects that my wife and I came up with to do with the groups when our sons were in Beaver-, Cub- and Boy-Scouts. Nothing too complicated or exotic.

We wanted the kids to be able to do most of the work. Of course, depending on ages, time, tools and number of leaders available we did some of the work ahead of time, and just had the kids do final assembly. If it's just you and one or two kids it should be easy to tackle all parts with the kids, minus perhaps the table-saw and chop saw.

I just did some shop clean-up last week and came across a couple of them:
-a little paddle-boat that we built at a camp but my boys used more in the bath tub,
-a train whistle that works and sounds surprisingly good,
-various other little cars, piggy-banks, miniature totem-pole, etc.

My boys are both at college now, but I still have Cubs Scouts building their little cub cars in my shop every spring, and I man a "pit crew" repair table at their local racing event.

-brino


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## Randall Marx (Dec 28, 2016)

If I may, I would like to add to this discussion from the other side. When I was growing up, I spent every moment that I could out in the garage with Dad. We actually started by building the garage when I was 3 years old. I was in on and actually "helped" work on my Grandma's 1935 Plymouth PJ Deluxe. I was 4 and it was the first major project in that garage. Dad and I would dump the various coffee cans full of assorted leftover fasteners on the floor and search to find what was needed. We did a full-on restoration on the Plymouth, then on Grandpa's 1953 Dodge M-37 personnel carrier, then on the 1963 Chrysler Crown Imperial that later became my first car. There was _always_ some project in need of work. Dad was a mechanic and then a bodyman, both professionally and at home with me. Now, 30 years after it all started, I am SO glad he took the time and effort to include me in all of the different projects because it resulted in me becoming an engineer, welder, hobby machinist (still working on that one), gunsmith, mechanic, and whatever else is needed for the project at hand. So, as has been said already, it matters little what the actual project is. The important thing is the time spent and enjoyed together while teaching/learning the skills that can be applied later. Something as simple as sorting fasteners or as complex as an ongoing complete vehicle restoration can be very valuable and fun together.
-Randall


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## brino (Dec 28, 2016)

Here's the simple, miniature "totem pole" craft project we did with the Beaver Scouts (ages 5, 6, 7).

First a disclaimer: No offense is intended to any First Nations individuals! We did do some research on real totem poles for pictures (one attempt shown below), but believed that such detailed drawings might be too intimidating for such young children. So we did some other sides of the demo unit with some figures that were easier to draw and they would recognize.....and for those I'm claiming "fair use"....it was a fun craft project with kids, no one made money off the likenesses then and no one is making money off this post now.

The basic pole is an 8 inch piece of 2x2" pine. The base was a 4x4" piece of thin plywood. One wood screw attached the pole to the base.
For this age group the wood was cut ahead of time. It was basically a drawing/colouring project with some real totem pole facts discussed before building.


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## brino (Dec 28, 2016)

Here's the paddle-boat project we did with Beavers (age 5, 6, 7).

The two pontoons are pine. The paddle was made from two matching pieces of luan plywood (about 3x1.5")

None of the dimensions are critical, perhaps except:
-the dowel holes should be drilled far enough apart for the paddle wheel to spin between them
-the holes were drilled to be a tight fit on ordinary hardwood dowel.
-the matching notches in the paddle halves are cut half way thru so it assembles as below

If required use one elastic to hole the paddle halves together and another one to run the boat.

My kids played with these in the bath tub.

One mistake we made is that the markers used for colouring them were not "water-fast".

-brino


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## Armourer (Dec 29, 2016)

Very cool, thanks for the ideas. Right now I have about a dozen pieces of wood in the shop he keeps himself busy with but can see some day him getting bored with them! We will give some of these ideas a go.


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