Carpentry Fun Time: Inserting Screws

January 10th, 2021 by dayat Leave a reply »

Today is a great day to help your child learn how to insert screws into wood. By the end of these quick projects they will even have a key holder to hang by your door!

Here are the supplies you’ll need for these activities: sandpaper, a starter nail, a bar of soap, a few blocks of soft wood, some narrow pieces of wood (approximately 12 inches long), an assorted variety of screws (hook, eye, straight wood, etc.) and a variety of screwdrivers. Make sure that the screws you have will be comfortable for you child to handle; in other words, no screws over three inches long unless your child can handle them!

Simple Screw Fun

Once you’ve helped your child set up the carpentry work space with their workbench and supplies, have them partially hammer a nail into a block of soft wood and then wiggle it out. You may want to show them how to do this. Then, have them rub the end of a screw on the bar of soap and then screw it with a screwdriver into the nail hole. Let your child practice screwing and unscrewing the screw. Try different types of screws. Show them that once they have a starter hole, they can even screw in an eye screw or a hook screw by twisting it into the wood – they won’t even need a screwdriver!

Which Screwdriver?

Prepare a block by screwing in various types and sizes of screws into the wood. Make sure you include a few Phillips head screws in your assortment. Set out a variety of screwdrivers and let your child experiment with finding out which screwdriver works best on each screw. Have them explain to you why this screwdriver works best on this screw and that one works best on that screw, etc.

Key Holders

Now we’re ready for our project! Have your child sand the narrow pieces of wood until they are nice and smooth. Next, have them screw in four hook screws across the front of their wood piece. On the top of the wood piece, have them screw in two eye hooks for hanging, one on each end of the wood. If they’re feeling creative, have them decorate their key holders with stickers, paint or decals. Tie some string through the eye hooks and there you have it! One completed key holder, ready for use. Now we just have to have them clean up their workbench, put all the supplies and tools away and we’re done.

Can your child think of other things to make with the screws and wood

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