Reviving Shop Class: DIY Skills for Kids

Shop Class has become a rarity in schools these days. More and more kids are being home schooled or going to private schools. Neither of these are known for their robust shop class experiences. My son is still young and so I try to teach him in any moment that comes up, the benefits and satisfaction that comes with building something yourself. He recently went to the store with my wife and saw something he wanted. Since there was no special occasion coming up for him to request this item we told him he could buy it himself. He had some birthday money, but not enough for this specific toy. So he asked how he could make money.

For more kids either mowing lawns or selling lemonade were the go to jobs to earn a few extra dollars. Well since he can’t see over the lawn mower yet, lemonade was his best bet. Of course he wants to go all out, he told me he needed a stand and it needed to be on wheels so he could roll it out to the street to sell it. I told him what a great idea that was, but that he needed to build it. So our first shop class took place. We walked through the steps of making a simple lemonade stand and throwing some wheels on it so he could roll it in and out of the garage. The details on the lemonade stand are in the YouTube video embedded above.

The more important news to the video is the announcement of the newly developed Shop Class! Shop class is a full course developed by Crafted In Florida to teach kids things that they would have learned in shop class and bring the experience home. There are going to be multiple courses in several different areas of the trades. The first course is “WoodWorking 101” and it officially launches in January of 2025. It is currently available for presale at www.BringShopClassHome.com If you buy before January and use the promo code “ShopClassLaunch” you can save $50 of the course.

This course has over 25 lessons, 8 full build plans for woodworking projects, and each lesson and build comes with a video. The course is designed for any beginning woodworker, but is built with the idea in mind of kids working through the course. It should take about a semester to complete the entire course if you’re working on 1 lesson a week, giving yourself some time to complete each of the 8 builds. It’s self paced and can be done as quickly as you’d like.

This started with the idea of teaching my kids how to make things with their hands and a set of tools. I want to make sure they can create what they want, fix what they have, and be useful and self sufficient when they are grown. I figured if I’m doing this for them, why not put it together for others to enjoy and work through as well.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article, if you liked it please share it and subscribe to our email list. If you’re interested in a custom build you can contact us here. If you want some Crafted In Florida merch or a custom carved piece you can visit the shop. And don’t forget to visit the new site and get in on the presale for the course at Bring Shop Class Home!