Kids and woodworking: Building a better bookshelf

Post date: Apr 8, 2011 2:25:04 AM

To make up for all the dresses I sew for my daughter, I occasionally take the Man Card out of my wallet and head to the Home Depot in search of wood to drill and cut and sculpt. Over the years, I've made a table for our dining room and a simple, lopsided shelf so we don't have to wade through a sea of stacked and toppling books in the living room.

I hadn't built anything in awhile and decided I wanted to make another shelf for the endless books, while at the same time creating a special reading corner for Emmeline. When I built other things, I did most of the work when Emme was napping or late at night, after she went to bed. She was young then and toddling and not quite ready for a table saw.

She's five soon, however, and no longer napping. My personal craft time has disappeared. But I figured this new shelf could be a big project we could build together. It was, after all, largely designed to give her a quiet place to call her own. So why couldn't she have a hand in it?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/parenting/detail?entry_id=86367