Engaging young people in the workshop can be difficult when you are competing with screens. I have found that my own children are interested in what I’m doing in the workshop, but lose motivation if they are not able to quickly create items that have meaning for them. They are not interested in furniture, spice racks or lamps. What they do like are projects such as billy carts, percussion instruments and spinning tops, because they have real world uses.
The Lego people shown above immediately attracted the interest of children, and lots of adults too. I first saw the original large-scale wooden Lego Person made by Simon Begg on his Instagram account. Simon, being a world class turner, turned most of the figure on a lathe. Turning the pieces, especially the arms and hands, produces a high quality outcome; however that is technically difficult to achieve, especially for younger or less experienced woodworkers.
In collaboration with Simon, I adapted the original instructions that Simon authored for the website. A similar end product can be achieved
