Kids Make Clocks at the Canadian Home Workshop Show

Just like the popular rides at an amusement park, you have to be yay high in order to build your own clock at the Kids’ Corner. But, if mom and dad are around, sometimes the height requirement isn’t an issue. With his dad on hand, 11-year-old Trevor is ready to transform a piece of 1×8 pine into a Team Canada clock. This design is the most popular pattern out of the eight designed by Melissa Alexander, a volunteer at the Canadian Home Workshop Show.

Standing on top of a big, blue storage bin to reach the marking table, Trevor carefully traces the maple-leaf pattern onto his workpiece. Larry, another CHW Show volunteer, helps Trevor drill the necessary holes and cut out the pattern with a scroll saw. “It vibrates a bit,” Trevor said of the loud stationary tool. Under the workstation’s light, Trevor doesn’t seem to mind all the sawdust he’s making, or that of so many kids building their projects. More than 350 kids would come by the Kids Corner during the three-day show.

Trevor traces the figure of a hockey player onto the Team Canada clock he's made.

Almost done! Next, Larry leads Trevor to the sanding station. Like many others, Trevor is silent in concentration as he works with a spindle sander and then a palm sander. Last but not least, Trevor traces the hockey player in action onto the front of his clock, and marks the quarter-hand segments for painting and finishing at home.

Trevor holds the new clock proudly in both his freckled hands, and after snapping a photo with his dad, says, “I’m going to hang it up in my room.”

–Words and photo by Valerie Lam