A Great Day for a Project
It’s all Child’s Play Feature by Sue Gascoyne of Play-Z Ltd
Depending upon your outlook, the last week of the summer holidays tends to conjure up sadness or relief. If you, like me, have spent the 6 weeks multi-tasking as you try to be a good enough mum and businesses woman, then the end of the holidays signals a clearer demarcation in roles and the return of dreaded mornings with their rushed routines. For some this is a time of burgeoning costs as the price of childcare, activity clubs, fun (and expensive) days out, new schools and uniforms take their toll.
And so, picture the scene, it’s the last day of the holidays – with one child back at school and the other on a non- pupil day - don’t get me started. You’re wondering what to do to keep your little darling happily occupied so that you can end the holidays on a positive note without costing the earth? Well the answer for me and my nine year old son was fi nding the perfect project.
With a passion for all things engineering and discovering how things work and a desire to create a go-kart, the decision was easy. Child-led projects are the answer so there could only be one focus. With this in mind I set about providing optimal conditions for go-kart building – an extra pair of hands, muscle and brains, only if needed, plus possible construction parts to be used. This was his project and his design so crucial to my role was only supporting when needed, without taking over the process. It was important, therefore, to get the right balance between me being available and ‘on call’ for encouragement and support, but not being ‘on top’. With a shed bursting with rubbish and crying out to be sorted, this was the perfect way of being present without being
in the way. It also created our very own mini scrapheap challenge, providing a wonderful source of go-kart parts, from reinforcing bars to brackets and wheels!
While some things can seem hard work for children, like brushing teeth and tidying-up, others like computer games and TV come easy. With children typically spending too much time indoors and not enough outdoors interacting with nature and peers, projects like these guarantee fresh air and focus, and this was defi nitely the case with my son’s go- karting construction. Up and out bright and early before 8 and working through a quick sandwich lunch until tea, he knuckled down with determination to create a base – made from a pallet he’d cut down, wheelbarrow wheels and reinforcing bars, seat and prop – to avoid crushing in the event of the kart fl ipping.
Steering took the form of a series of ropes and pullies as he drew upon his knowledge of sailing and ideas gleaned from Scrapheap Challenge. Problem solving, mastery,
focus
and a growing confi dence were plain to see as he hammered, sawed, prised wheelbarrow wheels off , applied WD40, attached ropes and his go-kart design took shape.
Although blessed with the weather I can’t help feeling that my son would still have been as determined and focused on turning his vision into a reality in the rain, cold or snow. As for me and the shed, which looks amazing (fi ngers crossed it stays that way), I’m ashamed to say that this was a fair weather relationship. With diff erent weather, clearing through piles of rubbish, dust and spiders would have defi nitely lost their appeal, reminding us of course that just like children, us adults like a self-chosen project to get our teeth into. With the go-kart ready for its debut launch, my thoughts turn to the next holiday and project and what part of the house or garden I can clear out? With the go-kart ready for its debut launch, my thoughts turn to the next holiday and project and what part of the house or garden I can clear out?
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