Specialty Highlight August 2026: Woodworking
Hello Garden School Families,
It's so wonderful to be back together with a few new faces joining us too! Our first project in Woodworking will solidify good carving technique, safety precautions, and steady rhythms for our class period. Grades Four and Five and Middle School will be carving an egg from basswood. Carving a spherical shape from a rectangular one gives students a slow and thorough introduction to how our tools respond to wood. The feeling of carving against the grain, with the grain, and along the growth direction of the tree varies, and the carving knife behaves differently in each situation. This exploration builds awareness in reading the wood grain to achieve desired results, which over time develops the students' will, patience, and confidence.
Moving from a rigid, six-sided block to a smooth, organic sphere requires us to look at the wood from every angle. This project teaches them to balance the whole form rather than getting stuck on one detail. To find the true center, students regularly close their eyes and roll the wood in their palms, using their sense of touch to feel for flat edges and high spots.
Woodworking at this age is as much about inner development as it is about physical skill. The rhythmic, quiet scraping of knives creates a deeply focused atmosphere. When a piece doesn't go as planned, the children practice resilience, learning to adapt their design with patience.
Additionally, the process of carving an egg from a rectangular shape provides students with a concrete visual of geometric transition, from cube form to spherical form. This exploration integrates well with their Geometry Blocks this semester and will be something they can revisit and discuss with their classroom teachers.
For safety, while using carving tools, students sit an arm's length apart from one another and wear a cut-resist glove on the non-dominant hand with which they hold their work. We also use cut-resist finger covers or cut-resist wrap tape for the thumb of our knife yielding hand. You can expect this class to always take place outdoors except in the case of severe weather. Please pack appropriate rain gear and closed toed shoes for Woodworking days (Mondays & Wednesdays for Grades Four and Five and Tuesdays & Thursdays for Middle School).
We look forward to seeing these beautiful, hand-polished eggs completed and coated in natural oils or paints to protect their efforts. They may need a few days to completely cure on the day they're sent home. Some students are already excitedly discussing what they may want to make next!
As always, you can reach out to me at heidi@thegardenmarietta.org at any time!
P.S. I’m always interested in sourcing scraps of softer wood such as white pine - if you have any waste cut offs or odd ends from a home project, I'd gladly put them to use!
With warmth,
Ki Heidi
