At what age should kids start carving?

[risby]

Having made a couple of spoons myself my ten year old daughter now pleads with me to let her have a go. I have cut myself a couple of (dozen) times (not while carving actually) and I can't bear the thought of her cutting herself.

Am I being overcautious, over controlling or simply sensible?

Is it perhaps better for her to be taught in supervised sessions rather than risk that she will surruptiously have a go herself when I'm not there?

Is there, I wonder, a legal age limit under which you are proscribed from giving knives to young grrls?

Wadja reckon, folks?

 

[TheViking]

I reckon you'd want to teach her some safety first. I've always run around with big knives from a low age, starting at 20 cm length. The biggest is now 34 cm. a hair popping sharp golok.

Maybe a good idea to supervise her in the start.

 

[g4ghb]

If it's any help Scouts start to learn about knife safety/use at 10.5-11 when they start to do their 'axe and knife' training.

As long as the knives are sharp - hard with the ones they proudly produce...... - there seem to be little problems (in fact at summer camp this year the only knife accident was chopping carrots!!!!) this lad being the oldest and most experienced / skilled with an axe!!!!

If you start with simple projects like tentpegs / 'knives' and forks it is unlikely that there will be too much damage if she just cuts away....

Know how you feel thought mate - is a big step to leave them to themselves....... but you have to learn sometime.

 

[moduser]

TheViking is correct. You can start as young as you like as long as you feel that they can understand the dangers and are prepared to follow instruction.

Start with a knife suitable for the size of hand using it, your aim is to teach control and that can't be done easily if the blade (and/or handle) is too big.

Keep the projects simple. Even a spoon can be tricky (as I know all too well).

How about a tent peg or a pot hanger to start with, something the child can use and focus' the mind on a couple a basic techniques and work up from there.

 

[pumbaa]

If your still worried try a dry run with a plastic knife and a lump of plasticine . This should allow you to watch the way the knife is handled and adjust accordingly (without blood ) . it may sound a bit childish , but it will give you an idea as to when the little'n is ready for a real knife .
You will still need to put something down for the shavings , but at least you can re use them.
Pumbaa

 

[Fluxus]

how about starting small - barking green sticks with a potato peeler (3 year olds can do this!) - and move quickly on to supervised achievable small projects eg. sharpening said barked sticks with a suitable knife for cooking things - cutting patterns into the bark of a walking stick - all the time reinforcing basic safety stuff without going OTT .
cuts are a learning experience - just have a kit handy and stay calm about it.

 

[Goose]

My 12 year old daughter bought a mora at the summer moot, (I bought it with her money) and my ten year old son was given a german army penknife, I was a little nervous at first. But they have impressed me with how sensible they have been, an odd nick which is expected, but no major cuts.
I explained to them where major arteries and veins run and cutting themselves in that area is really serious were a nicked thumb isnt nice and should be avoided but is sorted with a plaster.
Both knives are always accompanied by a bum bag with a first aid kit and they are only used under supervision.
You know your own kids better than anybody, let them try using yours and see how they cope.
Give her a scary first aid talk before she has a go, it seems to focus the mind!
I generally cut myself more often than the kids which they don't let me forget!

 

[DISCO]

it's a good question my little boy is only 31/2 but i am wondering when to take him out camping for his first time.As far as carving and knife using as the others say judge by your kids approach and common sense.Getting a cut may be par for the course when learning with a knife, but i can understand your view point that your child gives themselves a bad cut. Some sort of glove idea would be good like a filletting glove but i doubt they make them in small enough sizes.

 

[risby]

If it's any help Scouts start to learn about knife safety/use at 10.5-11 when they start to do their 'axe and knife' training.

I said "Well, your about ten and a half aren't you, so if scouts can ...".

To which she replied "Daaaaaad, I'm nearly eleven!!!"

She is in The Guides and I asked if anybody had mentioned getting a knife. She said "No that's just for scouts. They reckon boys would like that sort of thing. We get a badge for chocolate."

 

[risby]

Keep the projects simple. Even a spoon can be tricky (as I know all too well).

How about a tent peg or a pot hanger to start with, something the child can use and focus' the mind on a couple a basic techniques and work up from there.

Good point. Pot hanger first. We'll go out for a walk in the woods looking for sticks tomorrow.

 

[risby]

Both knives are always accompanied by a bum bag with a first aid kit and they are only used under supervision.

That's a really good rule ... we'll be adopting that as of now.

 

[g4ghb]

I said "Well, your about ten and a half aren't you, so if scouts can ...".

To which she replied "Daaaaaad, I'm nearly eleven!!!"
love it! - arn't kids just the best at slapping you down!!!!

She is in The Guides and I asked if anybody had mentioned getting a knife. She said "No that's just for scouts. They reckon boys would like that sort of thing. We get a badge for chocolate."[/QUOTE
lol - Is so true but remember Girls can join Scouts too and if she is really interested in the 'outdoors life' a good Troop could be the making of her (recruitment speach over!) - Seriously though some Guide Troups are very 'active' in a non confectionary way so I am not knocking them at all (in fact I hold a Guide appointment myself!

 

[george]

My son got his first knife last year - at six.

We thought long and hard about it but reckoned that the younger you start the sooner you know the rules. Yes he's cut himself, but that's the way it goes, and at least he looks on knives as a tool to be shown some respect rather than as a macho accessory on the street!

He's able to carve tent pegs, shape feather sticks and make various hangers and hooks - we've no regrets.

George

 

[Toddy]

My son got his first knife last year - at six.

We thought long and hard about it but reckoned that the younger you start the sooner you know the rules. Yes he's cut himself, but that's the way it goes, and at least he looks on knives as a tool to be shown some respect rather than as a macho accessory on the street!

He's able to carve tent pegs, shape feather sticks and make various hangers and hooks - we've no regrets.

George

Hear, hear!
Even stripping bark from willow and sharpening pencils is good practice of the old hand/eye co-ordination. I taught the girls (6 to 11 year olds) in the Summer to make weaving sticks, shuttles, spurtles and beads from elder and willow. Even made a couple of small tapestry looms using the knives to carve out the joints.
Seeing the girls using the knives too, and competently, put a damper on the boys posturing. It helped encourage the, "It's a tool." mindset we were after.
I've still got the knife my dad bought me over 30 years ago; go on dad, she'll remember

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[Tony]

I bought my Boy is first fixed blade when he was 5. It's our responsibility to judge if they're ready or not. We can always take it away again if they are not mature enough to use a blade.

My 16 month old knows not to touch a knife that's on the table...they learn what we teach them

 

[demographic]

As I remember my mother bought me a swiss army knife when I learned to read then one of my brothers gave me a Martiini fixed blade knife when he took his Triumph to th north cape of Norway, I am pretty sure that I was seven then.

 

[Goose]

You can tell a lot about a kid in how they pick up a knife, some students go into a "fighting stance" even picking up a chisel!
I suppose it depends on when and how they have been introduced to tools.

 

[bilko]

What an excellent thread!
I have this exact same problem although my boys are 10 and 12.
I have let them use pen knives before but without any suggested practice. I think they just sharpened sticks
Tent pegs is an excellent idea though!
Also i USED to think that if the knife was less sharp then it would be safer for them which of course is totally wrong. Also i think a fixed blade with a sheath would be better for the boys so as to resist the temptation of transporting it to places where it shouldn't go.
I think most of the danger for the boys is when the knife is not in use funnily enough. I would love to get them a training knife or mora but i KNOW how sharp they are and being a parent there is allways that feeling at the back of the mind that they might take a finger off
We'll see.

 

[philaw]

I've been teaching English to Chinese infant school kids for the past 8 months, and it's been interesting for me to notice the different attitude to knives here. I'd not been around young kids before, so don't have a lot to compare it to, but the way that the kids totally ignore knives impresses me. The teachers in the class use an 8" blade knife to do everything from peel apples, to... ...chopping apples, and the kids never bat an eyelid. Is that normal for 6-7 year olds? Maybe it's because people don't make a big fuss about knives here, and they really are just tools. What do you think?

Personally, my class last year had some students of 7 years old that I would have felt fairly comfortable allowing to handle a knife. I would have been scared, of course, but they really do need to learn some time, and what people have said above makes a lot of sense. I'd make a kind of training course for them, where they show that they know how to hold the knife, make cuts, not to hold it on your lap next to one of your bigger arteries; all that kind of thing. Working up slowly with playdo, plastics knives and just sharpening sticks is a spot-on idea. You could make a knife the graduation prize, along with a certificate!

 

[stovie]

My son is 8yrs old, and my daughter 6yrs old. My son has the strength and dexterity to weild his knife with care and precision on simple tasks like putting a point on a stake. I get "twitchy" when he starts to carve something more intricate, but as yet, has done no real damage (to himself).

My daughter at the moment has neither the strength nor dexterity to safely use a knife. But her time will come.

As for me, I really shouldn't be allowed out