Brilliant toy.

[Vormulac]

I was in Argos yesterday picking up a big inflatable ball for SWMBO (don't ask) when I noticed this on the shelf. It struck me as a thoroughly brilliant idea. These days when fewer schools are offering woodworking and most children's idea of a creative pasttime is tattooing a new and improved swearword on their forehead, this really stood out. Cheap and nasty, yes. Will it last more than a day, no. But might it kick start an interest in a rewarding hobby - quite possibly.

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/p ... 724321.htm

I found myself desperately wracking my brains for an 8 year old I could buy it for (and yes, I nearly bought it for myself).

V.

 

[Shady]

Agreed - but oooohhhh - smell the potential litigation possibilities!!!

 

[Les Mahon]

big inflatable ball for SWMBO (don't ask)

You have to ask :? The only reason I know of for those things is because you will have someone to buy the toy for in 8 years and some months :shock:

Les

 

[Vormulac]

big inflatable ball for SWMBO (don't ask)

You have to ask :? The only reason I know of for those things is because you will have someone to buy the toy for in 8 years and some months :shock:

Les

Yes indeed, she's about 10 weeks from D-Day and apparently sitting/bouncing on one of these is a 'good thing'. I don't know, in my day space-hoppers were standard issue, we didn't need an excuse like 'I'm pregnant' to bounce around on a large rubber ball. Come to think of it, where did I put my space-hopper? Would make commuting a lot more interesting...

V.

 

[mudman]

Sorry to be a bit of a killjoy but I bought one for my 7 year old, in my opinion it's rubbish.

You get a few bits of balsa and some tools that are so blunt you can't use them. I actually sharpened up the 'turning' tool and it is a bit better. It will cut things and my boy does like to set it up and hack away at pieces but you can't do very much with it.

Personally, I've found that he gets far more enjoyment from using the real tools. With adequate supervison and saftey considerations he has been able to do a fair amount with the 'big boys toys'. He's turned lightpulls from oak on the lathe, cut wood to size with a small handsaw, smoothed wood with a small plane, cut parts from ply for some bookends he's making on a scrollsaw and the other weekend he was using carving tools to chip-carve flowers. The last was a bit nerve wracking until we got the rules of proper chisel handling correct.
I think that the trouble with some of these toys is that the child gets all fired up to have a go and make these wonderful looking projects but then gets put off when they don't come out as expected.
If you are careful and never take your eye off of them, I think that a child can handle real tools successfully and get a lot of enjoyment with real results.
The biggest problems I find are that enthusiasm can be so great that things need to be done quickly and if you don't hold it in check, that accidents could happen (nothing so far [-o< ). Also, small hands can be a disadvantage as well as height and these need to be overcome.
Which reminds me, I promised I'd sort out the old #3 for him as that should be small enough for him to cope with.

 

[mudman]

Oh, and I was talking about the GR8, not the ball.

BTW, another popular one is pyrography, I bought one of the Janek units and the kids love it.