NOTE – In Australia, Year 9 & 10 students are around 14 – 17 years old (teens). I have a page dedicated to Woodworking Projects for 10 Year Old’s Here
NOTHING IS WORSE THAN students losing interest in a project. Generating enthusiasm is important and project choice can have a bit to do with that.
To help, here are some ideas for your woodwork class.
Jewellery Box
These designs are simple and have a quick turn around. Good to learn about hinges and latches.
Designer Chopping Board
Although standard chopping boards can be a little simple, there are some designer chopping boards that look great and require some skill to construct.
The downside is it will require quite a bit of cutting on your part, the amount will depend on which design you choose.
As an example, this guy has got some great ideas.
Ukulele
Not for the faint hearted. There are plenty of YouTube videos of people making ukulele’s at home as well as guitar/ukulele classes in most major cities.
You can also make a few smaller projects that run along side this one. I.e. music stand or ukulele stand.
My ukulele plans and all my steps are available here.
Table
I am sure you’ve probably thought of this already, but just in case you haven’t here it is. A nested table can work well. This one has a glass mosaic top to engage a little creativity with students and give them a simple design task
Mosaic Table Plans are available here
Candy Dispenser
There are a few different designs for building a Candy Dispenser but this is the one I use. It’s cost effective (it’s quite small) and doesn’t require much preparation. (I sell the plans for this here.)
Getting students to bring the glass jar can be a pain. They can be bought from places like IKEA and $2 shops or thrift shop.
The top design uses a spring, which you can purchase quite inexpensively from eBay. The design below does not use a spring but does require more prep work .
Stool
Another staple of the school woodwork department. This is a solid project that gets students to use a range of hand tools.
You can download the plans for this from my Etsy store for $11 here.
Pens
A quick one but a good one if you have a couple of lathes in your classroom your happy to let students use. The kits are quite comprehensive so there isn’t much prep required from the teacher.
Need Plans?
If you are wanting to build any of the above projects with your students then I do sell plans for them. You can see the plans I have already done here, although if I haven’t got what you want then contact me here and let me know so i can make them.
More Ideas
If you have any comments, queries or any projects that you do then contact me here.