Monday, January 16, 2017

Getting kids into model making

How do you get kids interested in making models?


I'm a dad. I've got a four year old daughter. And I want to share my hobby with her.

Partly it's so I can spend time with her and show her what I love about model making. Partly it's so she can (hopefully) develop a hobby or interest that is real-world, away from digital screens. Mostly it's because when I was a kid this hobby gave me a huge amount of pleasure, and I hope she can experience that too.

If she doesn't grow up to be a model-maker, then that's okay too.  But while she's young, she can have some time with her dad doing a daggy creative hobby.

I won't say I have all the answers on how to get your kids interested in models, but I will say it's good to involve them from a young age and share their creativity. Rivet counting be damned!

So this weekend just gone we made a squadron of biplanes out of some old toilet paper rolls and some spare cardboard.  Cut them out and glued them with plain old white PVA glue on Saturday afternoon, and then on Sunday when her friend came over we painted them and then had some biplane races.

From little things, big things grow.

Cheers,

Dave

Rough template. Don't overthink it, whatever looks right!

Maybe grown-ups need to be in charge of the scissors.

Looks airworthy.

A squadron worthy of  "Wacky Racers".

Painting! This is where 4 year olds get to enjoy themselves.

You may be able to guess which one I painted...

Ready for racing.

The Red Baron flies again.





3 comments:

  1. Ah the red baron flies again. Great idea creating cardboard aircraft with children. Did a snow speeder and a an AtAt with my son many years ago.
    Cheers Eh!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Gordon, it's a lot of fun to just be creative and not have to worry about historical accuracy, isn't it? I've got a tiny 1/144 AT-AT in my stash that I need to get to one day... Cheers mate, Dave

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  2. These are very cute! I'm curious though, did they fly at all?

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