“I think objects made of wood by children, left to their own devices, if such there be, will assay ten percent wood, ninety percent nails.”
~Robert Paul Smith
“Where Did You Go?” “Out.” “What Did You Do?” “Nothing.”, 1957
The other day I was doing dishes while my son lunched on a PB&J. He started to ask me about different dimensions – how big is 1 inch? What about 1 meter? I walked over to see what he was working on, and he had made “blueprints” for a birdhouse that he wanted to build.
My son draws up “blueprints” all the time. Usually, though, it’s for a rocket or a car that transforms into a boat, which is slightly beyond my capabilities. But a birdhouse? I can do that!
So after lunch we went outside and dug through my scrap wood pile and found a few pieces that would work. It was all dimensional lumber, so it just needed to be cut to length. While he played with Chula in the yard, I quickly cut the pieces for the birdhouse at the miter saw. In that amount of time, Chula was able to dig up about half the yard. My son looked about the same as her…
The next morning we got started on the “construction” of the birdhouse. He drew in the doorway and we cut it out together with the jigsaw.
Then we prepped for nails. I found it hard to keep everything aligned while he hammered in the nails, so I went ahead and clamped it all together and pre-drilled holes with the tiniest drill bit I could find.
Then, time for the fun part – hammering!
If a hammer is his favorite tool, the drill has to be a close second. He absolutely loves using my drill! So of course we had to put a few screws into the birdhouse.
Now that everything was assembled, it was time for a little paint.
If you attempt something similar at home, I recommend you dress the little one in old clothes for this part. No matter how careful we are, paint always gets on our clothes!
This little birdhouse project is everything I love about woodworking; a chance to spend time with my family, an opportunity to build something, and a chance for little minds to see something move from vision to reality.
Good job bud, I love the wonky door design!!!
Thanks Nanny – he came up with it himself! 🙂