Sawing and screwing station

Saw and clamp
First we go through how the clamp works. The children try to clamp boards and we show them how. When the board is clamped, the children are allowed to pick up their saw. Go through the parts of the saw. Where are the teeth of the saw? Are they sharp? The first time, you can help the children by starting to make a cut for them. Then it’s time to give our three tips:

1. Saw at an angle. It’s much easier to cut at a downward angle than to do what you often want to do first – cut horizontally. The tip of the saw should point diagonally down towards the ground.
2. Saw like you brush your teeth. They should saw like you brush your teeth, softly and quickly. Often you push too hard and the saw gets stuck. You don’t need to use your muscles to cut.
3. Hold the saw with both hands. It’s impossible to cut your finger if it stays on the handle.

Screwdrivers
Understanding the screwdriver can be tricky at first, but once you’ve learnt how to use it, you can build big projects in no time. How do you decide whether the screw should go down or up? Demonstrate by holding the screwdriver as if you were screwing and pressing the arrows on the side of the screwdrivers – one makes the screw go down and one makes the screw go up. Explain and show that there are different screws with different types of heads such as stars (torx) and crosses and these need different types of bits. If you have a screwdriver with a drilling function, take the opportunity to let the children try drilling. Small screwdrivers can be particularly suitable for younger children. For larger projects, however, a regular screwdriver is often required.

1. The children each get a mini screwdriver with bits in it. The challenge is to screw down and then up a screw.
2. Once this task is completed, they can move up to a larger screwdriver and do the same.
3. If there is time – try changing the bits!

The hammer
It may seem like one of the easiest tools to handle, but it takes practice to drive the nail without accidentally hitting your thumb. Besides, how hard is it to hammer the nail without it bending? Let the children hammer down some nails. Show that you can also use the hammer to pull out nails.