County Fair - Day 3 - Week 3 (Mark Day School)

Day Three of our tinkering camp is usually a day when our tinkerers realize they need a new tool they haven’t used yet in order to accomplish a task they’ve set for themselves. Our county fair theme has us building sections of track, figuring out how to make a comfortable cart to ride in, cross-bracing a huge pinball board, and much more!

For all of that construction, we’re needing to learn to use assembly squares and jig saws, how to make angled cuts on a mitre saw (aka chop saw) and how to clamp a piece of wood in a vise. Empowering kids is something we take pride in and something we take seriously. Our camp goals and group agreements are all about safe and effective use of tools, not to mention treating each other with respect and care. So it’s no surprise that our tinkerers are often very eager to learn something new!

There are opportunities throughout the week for kids to stretch beyond our basic tool set that we introduce on Monday.

A countersink bit allows us to make the screw head flush with the wood

Using a 1/2” drill bit sometimes requires reducing the amount of torque by turning a dial on the drill. We use the word “torque” but we also refer to this as changing “how hard the drill tries.”

If there was a theme for today, it was definitely one of our goals: Try Harder than Usual. We reflected about this during our closing circle and recognized ourselves and others who had shown extra effort or tried something challenging (sometimes a design element such as a sketch for a new part of the build, sometimes a new tool or a mathematical concept). We also touched on another goal, Collaborate and Make Friends. It’s wonderful to hear kids talk about how they helped someone else or a new friend that they made.

The black “L” assembly squares help us to keep wood at 90° angles.

We even took time out of our morning to challenge the tinkerers with a question: “Are pieces of wood held together by two screws stronger than pieces held together by ten screws?” And then we tested our hypothesis. The answer may have been surprising! We also discussed the difference between screws holding weight/force (sheer) and wood holding that same weight (compression). And of course, we couldn’t do what we do without introducing triangles!