Have you ever?

[wombatie]

Have you ever taught your children/ gandchildren/niece or nephew to scroll?  How old where they and do they still do it?  Was it easy or was it aaagggggrrr.  Lol.  My grandson is only 7 but he is very interested in what I do but I'm not sure if he's too young. Any input is good. 

Marg   

[sgood]

Every child is different but with the proper help I think 7 is old enough. Make sure you put the hold down back on the saw if you took it off. Make the child wears a dust mask and eye protection. Start with any easy material like Baltic Birch ply. I would start them out on something like a ginger bread man shape. We all know the scroll saw is one of the safest tools in the shop but there is always a chance they will get dinged but probably no more chance than falling off their bike. One word of advice though. Keep moma out of the shop while they cut. They will usually be nervous and make the child nervous.

[Charlie Dearing]

I tried with my daughter and 4 neices and nephews.  They pay attention for about 3 minutes then wanna go play

[Russ C]

My sons come in my shop and made things through the years. But the woodworking bug has never bit them. My daughters only came into see me and chat. 

[cornishpisky]

When my daughter was about 13 her school had a "Go to work with your parent" day, well, i don't work due to disability but she didn't want to be left out so asked me if i would teach her to use the scrollsaw, no problem! she made a heart mobile and did a pretty good job considering it was her first attempt, my son on the other hand has never shown the slightest bit of interest in my scrollsaw!

[Barry]

Marg - I hope my grandsons will want to learn.  I think with kids you just have to be excited about something and some will gravitate to it and some won't.  That is the fallacy about "quality time", you have to be available when they take an interest.  What a blessing it will be if your grandson takes up scrolling.  I love spending time with mine (2 year old twins) no matter what we are doing.

Barry

P.S. - They are two today!! April 22

[northie66]

I have two daughters, ages 12 and 14.  The 12 yo made her name last weekend and was very proud.  She did a pretty good job - didn't always stay on the lines but still.  The 14 yo had the idea of wanting to cut something... namely a Harry Potter logo for her room... but has never made the effort to do so.

[juvy]

Oh yes... 7  should be great!
I've taught a bunch of cub scouts 20 years ago.... they all still have their fingers.... there was no sign of any blood anywhere! lol

You have to be well prepared tho. As Charlie noticed... the attention span isn't that good yet.... 10 minutes is about all you get... but that's the same with a lot of grown ups. So keep the sessions short, try for things that can be finished in no more then two sessions and don't be discouraged if you didn't hit on the right subject or method the first time. Keep your eyes and ears open for subjects that interest them.... if they're into sports do sport themes.... girls might like animals ....

Remember saefty ... teach it from the very beginning... wear a mask... keep fingers to the side of the blade...etc...

I've found one way was to draw straight and curved lines on a board  draw a few marks on the sides....and tell them it's a little like driving a car... to try to stay on the line and not have an accident ( depending on the child you can call the marks , dogs, trees etc.... ) 
Children have great imaginations and will probably come up with more things like that.

Another thing that works well is to ask for one of their own drawings... turn it into a cut out they can then colour.... makes children feel you value their work and they love seeing it in wood... once they can do that.. next step it to make a puzzle out of their drawings! Talk about pride!!! They love that! Plus there's an unlimited supply of patterns coming straight form the designers!

One thing I did when I worked with disabled children was to prepare a pattern of a simple x-mas tree... the only thing they had to cut was 3 short cuts towards the inside ( the branches) they were done in no time flat... nobody had to wait for their turn too long and they had this " I can do this" experience right away..... each and every one of them wanted to do it again!

Just don't expect perfection... FUN is the only thing that counts at this stage

So.... go have fun... enjoy the time spend with kids

Juvy

[wombatie]

Thanks guys.  I will keep all your suggestions in mind and next school holidays TRY to put them into practise.

Marg

[cherie]

My two sons tried, but decided that gaming was more their thing.  When the grand kids came to stay, Scotty the 3 year old loves to watch.  I also give him the scrap pieces of wood and he peels the tape off the boards.  He is also going to be a carpenter if give them chance.  He loves to help paw paw build things.  I caught him the other night pulling nails out of boards.  I had no idea he could do this.  Here is a picture.


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[juvy]

Oh my... that is soooooo adorable! Reminds me so much of my own sons... also white blond just like your grandson.. of course that was 30 years ago! lol

I know if I lived in TX I'd have the grandson's on the scroll saw, teach them lots of stuff... woodworking is great for hand / eye coordination, great for imagination... 

Thanks for sharing those photos... love seeing future woodies

Hey.. you know .... just thought of that. if he loves hammering and nailing.. how about drawing simple outline of an animal or first letter of his name and letting him "draw" over the outline by hammering nails into the wood? Either all the way in or standing up?

Juvy

[cherie]

Thanks Juvy, I will have to keep that in mind.  I have other pictures of him helping paw paw put the add-on together.  And that was almost two years ago.  LOL. 

[wombatie]

Those photos are great Cherie.  Thanks.  It just shows kids watch and remember.  Sometimes not what you want them to remember though. LOL 

Marg

[jim stiek]

have been scrolling around my grandsons for years, just this past 2 weeks the middle grandson 13 years old took an active interest started him with a few practice patterns lines curves corners and such then some patterns desined for skill building. he has cut 4 0r 5 pieces and they are really better than I could have expected really impressed me with his ability to turn and follow radius cuts which I feel are the hardest thing to master. He went to our club picnic this past weekend with us and was really praised at the show and tell portion he liked that!

[northie66]

Cherie, he is sooo cute!  And he looks determined to get those nails out!