There is nothing that reminds me of the magic of creating more than having a kid or two in the shop, as with my niece and nephew this weekend. They encourage fast and uninhibited work full of wild imagination. No fancy tools required; with a coping saw, pocket knife, a little sandpaper, and some cheap craft paint, we brought into existence a most colorful dolphin and an eerily realistic whale shark — all while wearing paper hats.
These projects were in-the-round, but I wrote another post awhile back with some ideas about relief carving and working with young kids in general. And if you’d like to make one of these cool workman’s paper caps, I found the directions some time ago at this blog post from Joel at Tools For Working Wood.
David Fisher, Carving Explorations 
Hi Dave,
Wow, what nice Hats! Smile (Thanx for the link).
Even better carvings. It is amazing to me what a young mind can come up with.
You are (in my book) A KING when it comes to Uncles.
Thanx For Sharing.
(Hope to see you in Warren this summer)
Warmest regards,
Bill B
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Thanks, Bill. That free imagination is surely inspiring. The more we can hold on to it over time, the better!
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I have a four year old daughter and an almost two year old son who both love to be in the shop or sitting on the shaving horse with me!
It’s the absolute best!
Peter showed me how to make little gnomes from twigs. The kids love to color and play with them.
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Amen, Nathan. Make sure someone takes a photo or two of that along the way. The time flies! And save those gnomes.
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Paper hats!
I think that’s very cool.
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