Carpentry appeals to many who have free time during bein
hazemanim or after yeshiva hours at home when it doesn't
interfere with their learning sessions.
Your children enjoy construction from wood pieces, using
white glue instead of nails. Or they can do simple carpentry
with assistance. Imitating objects from their world with wood
is very satisfying for them. Wooden toy sifrei Torah,
a replica of the Mishkan, houses, roads and boxes are all
within their reach.
Carpentry brings to mind the building of the Mishkan. It was
a privilege to be included among those unknown Jews who built
this holy earthly structure of the Jewish people. These men
volunteered their services and skills for a higher
purpose.
Carpentry appeals to those who are tactile learners. They use
fine motor movements to take in information. These people
need to touch and feel the weight, texture and shape of an
object to understand it. They must experience a concept
before they can internalize and understand it. Carpentry
appeals to the three- dimensional learner who knows there is
another side to the moon and to a box. He relates to real
things in physical space and will look around an object.
Building requires use of precise measurements, order and
plans and care of tools. Working in wood is as basic as clay.
Man constructs his own vessels from clay and his own dwelling
and furnishings from wood. Designing and crafting physical
space in the world gives a man a way to delineate his own
place. Building a fence delineates one's place.
Very few people build their own homes or fences. We hire
others to do it. But the basic need of mankind is to have
such things. A boy in his craft is reenacting a basic
expression of mankind. A carpentry project has this appeal.
The work has a calming effect.
Today, in our industrial, computerized, disposable society,
it may be considered a real treat to take the time and
pleasure to build a box or a bookcase yourself. We all
acknowledge the joy of boys running to build a succah,
on the one hand, and to gather discarded wood for Lag B'Omer
bonfires, on the other. Both are temporary structures and yet
deeply satisfying.
There are valuable lessons to be learned from carpentry.
These lessons can be applied to other areas of life. With a
little imagination, we can see the connections.
PRECISION IN MEASUREMENTS
Without proper measurements, pieces don't fit together.
Precision in halacha is mandatory. Our measure of
character is precise. Precision in middos adds up to a
complete person.
ORDER
The wood pieces must first be cut, planed, sanded, beveled,
fitted, jointed, hammered, painted and lacquered. With
patience, we accomplish more. Order of thought and action
produces a final product. Here, one is taught to look at the
outcome of one's actions.
RESPECT FOR TOOLS
Treat a tool with respect and the tool will treat you with
respect. Broken or misplaced tools don't do the job. They are
of no help to us. Our body is a tool and vessel for our soul
and must be treated with respect in order to do its job
properly. Likewise, seforim not returned to their
proper place are of little use. Easily accessible
seforim make Torah accessible and alive at the moment
we need it.
SAFETY
The important awareness of safety precautions is a lesson
necessary for the use of tools. It teaches us to think of the
outcome of our actions. Learning to think before we act or
speak so we don't hurt others or ourselves is also an outcome
of this lesson.
CRAFTSMANSHIP AND QUALITY
Details in construction contribute to overall quality.
Carpentry requires both the plans and the fine
specifications. In all we do, it is the details or small
particles that form the whole. The vast world is made up of
infinite details. With a stretch of the imagination, we can
make the jump to understand that a well-constructed dvar
Torah gives attention to the greater picture as well as
to the details.
PROJECTS
All projects require adult supervision and discretion
according to the child.
Home Made Checkerboard with Broom Handle Checkers
(idea from Yaakov Gold from Ramat Beit Shemesh)
Saw broom handle into twenty-four checker size pieces, about
three quarters centimeters thick. Paint or stain twelve
blacks and twelve blondes. Use existing checker game board or
make your own from board or wood with sixty-four squares in
eight rows. Color or stain in checkerboard fashion,
alternating with dark, light, dark, light on each row so that
a white will always surround a dark and a dark will always
surround a light.
Wood Scrap Design
Children love finding the surprise picture when they connect
numbered dots on paper. Here they connect nails with yarn to
make geometric representation forms or abstract shapes of
their own invention.
MATERIALS
Pieces of scrap wood
Nails with large heads
Hammer / Sandpaper / Wood Stain
String or yarn
DIRECTIONS
1. Plan a geometric or abstract design on paper that will be
made up of nails connected by string or yarn.
2. Remove any rough spots on wood with sandpaper.
3. Transfer design to the wood.
4. Pound the nails into the wood according to the design.
5. Stain the wood. Let dry.
6. Wind string or yarn in and out of nails according to
design.
Wooden Jigsaw Puzzle
(For older boys with supervision)
1. Select a nine by nine or nine by twelve inch piece of
plywood.
2. Sand on all sides.
3. Choose an original or non-original picture suitable for a
puzzle to fit the wood.
5. Mark lines where the puzzle parts will be. Keep shapes
simple.
6. Cut on lines with the jigsaw.
7. Shellac all sides with two coats.
Building
Glue or nail various sizes and shapes of wood together to
make whatever comes to mind: a truck with wheels (cut from a
broom handle), simple design airplane, a toybox, a toy or
doll house, doll's bed or just practice hammering and gluing
the wood.
Simple Two Shelf Bookcase
(You can always use more bookshelves!)
1. Divide a 1 x 6 board, 6'8" long into four parts, each 20
inches long.
2. Mark a line twenty inches in from the end, then two more
lines the same distance apart.
3. Measure your tallest sefer to decide how high you
want your bottom and top shelf to be.
4. Hammer the side pieces to the bottom shelf using three to
four nails on each side.
