ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at all the practicalities of what you need to know to get started. It starts by looking at what age to introduce woodwork, and looks at the different layers of progression as children develop their knowledge and skills. The chapter explains ideas for starting to work with wood, exploring wood as a material, and talks in depth about setting up a woodworking area. It discusses types of wood and all the tools that can be included in the toolkit and how to safely work with them. The chapter recommends introducing woodwork to children in their pre-school year. An ideal workbench would have a flat working surface made from hard wood and have at least two vices. Softwoods are significantly harder than balsa wood. If children initially started with softwoods it is quite likely that some will struggle to master the techniques and be deterred from continuing.
