Pete Moorhouse on Setting Up Your Woodworking Area

Pete Moorhouse is an early years creative consultant, researcher, author and artist educator based in the UK. He is an associate trainer for Early Education delivering training nationally and overseas and is also a Froebel Tutor for the Froebel Trust. His work in school is centred around nurturing children’s creativity inspired by Froebelian principles and the approach in Reggio Emilia.

Pete is a leading authority on woodwork in Early Years education and has written several books and journal articles, including ‘Learning Through Woodwork’ (Routledge) as well as books on outdoor learning. He is currently working his latest book – ‘Creativity in Practice: Nurturing creative and critical thinking in early childhood education’.

He was awarded an honorary research fellowship from the University of Bristol and is currently researching creative progression in early education. Pete was also awarded a Churchill Fellowship to undertake international research into best woodworking practices in education. Pete won the national award (2019) from the Creative Learning Guild for his work promoting creativity in education and is Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

This creative session provides practical guidance for setting up a safe and engaging woodworking area in your early years setting, whether you’re a complete beginner or looking to enhance existing provision. Pete shares his expertise on selecting the right tools, creating safe environments, and supporting children’s learning through hands-on woodworking experiences. You’ll discover how to overcome common concerns about health and safety whilst providing rich opportunities for children’s physical, creative, and cognitive development through this powerful learning medium.

In this episode you’ll:

• Discover the four essential tools every early years woodworking area needs and why a Japanese pull saw makes all the difference for young children’s success
• Learn the clever technique of starting children with balsa wood that builds confidence before progressing to harder materials like pine
• Understand simple health and safety measures that keep woodworking low-risk, including the one-to-one sawing rule and why safety glasses are essential
• Explore creative ways to source materials and build community connections, from convincing grandparents to make workbenches to finding local suppliers for offcuts
• Find out why children naturally progress from “tinkering” to construction phases and how this supports their creative and critical thinking development

Watch this episode to discover how woodworking can become a cornerstone of your continuous provision, supporting children’s confidence, resilience, and problem-solving skills.

Episode Links:

Online training CPD:
https://irresistible-learning.co.uk/woodwork-cpd-online-course/

Woodwork training and resources
https://irresistible-learning.co.uk/woodwork/

Big Bang Research Project
https://irresistible-learning.co.uk/woodwork/the-big-bang-research-project/

Learning through woodwork (Routledge)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Learning-Through-Woodwork-Introducing-Creative/dp/1138071102/ref=sr_1_1?crid=28OJOVJKPUOL7&keywords=pete+moorhouse&qid=1677241874&sprefix=pete+moorhouse%2Caps%2C99&sr=8-1

Facebook group ‘Woodwork works wonders’ – an early childhood woodwork community – as a space to learn from each other, share ideas, ask questions and celebrate learning. Do join: https://www.facebook.com/groups/woodworkworkswonders

There is also a new free woodwork booklet available published by the Froebel Trust – for more info see: https://irresistible-learning.co.uk/resource/froebel-and-woodwork/

Contact: studio@petemoorhouse.co.uk