Making a wooden Ferris wheel chair

After the children made their wire Ferris wheel chair, they found it was the right size, but noticed that the metal wire wasn't very comfortable to sit on. They had also decided that they wanted to paint the chairs with themes ("star wars and race car for the boys, butterfly and unicorn for the girls."). They decided that the wire chair was "just a plan", and that they would make a real chair out of wood.




B. measured the wire Ferris wheel chair and found that it was 34, which J wrote down
so no one would forget.


measuring 34






measuring and marking


goggles ready
sawing to 34














Here are some questions going forward:

How will the children "bend" the wood to make the seat and back?
When they notice that the measurements aren't precise (all the 34's aren't the same size), will the children want to make modifications?
and a big question; Does this method of figuring things out with woodworking lead to understanding of the underlying structures of things? Nancy, Robyn and I can provide scaffolding around specific things, but mostly we are letting the children do the thinking here. I have seen this method lead to understanding with observational drawing and other 3d media, so it seems like it would be the same here. Stay tuned!




Comments

  1. Hi there! This is so awesome - especially the fact that you're allowing them to use real tools like the saw. I'm a homeschooling mommy of three littles and I love your blog for the fabulous inspiration. Please keep up the good work!

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