Early Childhood Education .... wooden resources

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There is a real shift happening in the world of early childhood education as centres move away from plastic toys and towards natural surfaces and open-ended resources.

Wooden blocks of all shapes and sizes are a treasure with preschoolers as they can be used for everything and anything!
http://crafts.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-make-natural-wooden-blocks-for-children—craft-18678
http://goffneytp.wordpress.com/2014/08/25/scrap-wood-projects-for-kids-pdf-download-model-train-table-building-plans/

Music exploration is so important, as music is a key factor in the development of language and math skills.
http://www.pinterest.com/fivewalls/sound-therapy/

Simple toys .. no bells, no whistles, inspire creative thinking and envisioning the possibilities (and on this etsy page, the wooden wall art would also be a treasure in a centre!
https://www.etsy.com/market/woodworking_wood

Wooden storage containers, such as this cutlery tray make beautiful organizers for classrooms, especially when they have dividers for sorting!
https://www.etsy.com/listing/103836185/primitive-cutlery-tray-solid-wood-hand?utm_source=Pinterest&utm_medium=PageTools&utm_campaign=Share

And … I don’t know if you get to take this apart and rebuild but oh, doesn’t it look like fun!! I wonder what else you could make with the pieces?
http://halisa.net/tag/free-plans-for-wooden-toy-garage

Great ideas for babes, grandkids, local schools, and craft sales.

What have you made for wee ones? Thought of making? Would like to make?

Toxins Out, Nature In - body/mind/spirit

Lincoln Logs were one of my first Christmas presents. Bunches of wooden blocks and wooden letters from grade school days are still around here. Don’t have any wee ones, but am still making wooden stuff for me to play with. Guess that makes me “wee”. Thanks for the post.

“still making wooden stuff for me to play with” << love it!!! :)

Toxins Out, Nature In - body/mind/spirit

Yes I had the wooden blocks but most of my toys I made even at an early age .
I played with oval fish cans hooked together with wire to make a train made whistles from willow in the spring made my own kites from flat strips of wood and packing paper and so on .
I think back of these days and proudly tell my kids and grandkids about those days when I look at the mountains of plastic they get as gifts and play with them for maybe a day and there it lays broken .
I try to get the kids into making their own toys and take them to the shop but I have to find something that they are interested in like MINECRAFT or Spiderman or American doll furniture and I hope some of this will stick with them in the future .

Klaus

MsDebbie,

We’ve worked with children’s ministry in the past and have always incorporated some type of wood project for them to make with us. We have band sawn animals and flower decorations for them to sand, assemble and paint. We have made book racks, a decorative table, plaques, holder for an adding machine tape for list making, etc. with the children. Most of these items were made for them to take home and remind them of something they had learned in our clubs. Others were made by them to be given to a teacher or other adult to show their appreciation. The decorative table was given by the students to the mother of a young handicapped boy in his honor.

With (or for) our grandchildren, we have made coats racks, doll house and furniture, wooden flowers for the yard, pencil/crayon/paint holder, a drawing tablet that held a roll of paper, and the list goes on.

I’m not certain if any of the children shared our joy of working with wood, but we hope we may have inspired some to try.

L/W

“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” Benjamin Franklin

I am reminder of almost every interview I have done….with the woodworker saying that their woodworking journey began with memories of watching a grandparent in the workshop….and then with many stories, the woodworking bug didn’t hit them until decades later.
We plant the seeds.

Toxins Out, Nature In - body/mind/spirit