SM. Good point and one debated here before. I am inclined to think that all this starts at home,

I collect toys and make things for them (diorama stuff and so on) and the lad used to play with these things, thus he has been guided at an early age by me to play with real toys, use his imagination and (for the purposes of this thread) he has seen me make stuff, and indeed I have made specific things that he wanted.  A robot wars arena and robots, a Brooklands race circuit for his cars etc)

Back to boats…after the receipt of a Woolworths r/c boat (that's the lad, as an xmas present from the grandparents) and the realisation that we could not boat together using my reactivated boats, I made him an LCM. This meant we could boat together and he could put his various tanks in it.

From there I began making all sorts of craft to keep his interest up, hence the varied collection. Although he never made a complete boat, he did help me and has the general idea. Although wedded to the computer now, he can always come back to it and eventually when he has a kiddy of his own he will remember the various options for play rather than just pc games.

If of course you were an internet dad and did not a) have any idea or b)have no other interest, then what chance has a kiddy got?

I always take a lander to the pond as a rescue boat but more importantly as something to let kids have a go on, and have a taste of boating.

Ashley

Sorry have said all this before!!

Edited By ashley needham on 12/08/2018 09:05:21

Hi. I have three sons. They all pursue one kind of hobby or another if which i am proud even my daughter who has three boys plays with them on an educating level with toys. I think you are right that if nurtured correctly you can instill great values into youg people.

On the apprentice route i own a small business and we have been seeking a new apprentice for our engineering section. No one has applied!!!!!!! There probably too engaged on there smart phones to bother 😪

Brian

Hi Paul,

Good point ! Shame perhaps the thread name should be changed ?

Regards Ray

I think part of the answer is just to show kids that ‘they’ can make things, it doesn’t all have to be bought. From a model boat to a chicken house to a space rocket, they all require the belief that they can, with a little fore thought be made by themselves. So many projects I’ve embarked on without the skills but asked,studied and learned the skills necessary. You can’t always teach your kids the actual skills but you can teach them that with hard work they can make almost anything and at least get the really precise bits made for them by an expert. We can’t all own a lathe or have a full workshop but we can all try to make more of the stuff we want, and as a last point let them do soldering with blow touches (under supervision) let them use jig saws (under supervision) unless their allowed to use tools they’ll never have the confidence to pick them up later in life. Well my little rant over. 😁

Hi all……here is my penny worth.

As Ashley points out, we have had this discussion quite a few times,and it is a fundamental problem, getting younger people interested in our hobby, or any practical hobby for that matter.

With nearly 40 years experience as a Technology teacher in secondary schools, an examiner for 'O and A' levels and cub/scouts hobby badges plus a lecturer/mentor at Goldsmiths College teaching budding teachers the practical side of things for their Technology and teaching degrees, I have observed very many people of all ages and have come to some conclusions.

Everyone is born a blank canvas they say and watching and learning from their parents can form thought processes to be brought about in the young child that will ultimately affect how they deal with problem solving and skills, dangers and abilities in readiness for growing up etc.

As far as us old wrinkleys are concerned, we were brought into a world with far more hand skills around, most of the jobs that had to be done in the family home had a distinct practical side, not so many expensive things to do the work for us as now. Without really remembering the things we learnt at that tender age, we were exposed to darning, knitting, mixing food by hand as well as hand washing and a thousand other tasks. There was not really a television available when I was a kid, Oh they were there (I'm not that old) but we couldn't afford one.

Repairing things when they wore out or broke was commonplace,and many of our fathers and even mothers went out to work in an essentially manual world. These early inputs do register in our brains and…more importantly they are not alien to us or frightening. DIY came about at the same period, make do and mend and build your own radio are things we may also remember.

Another thing about early childhood is ones ability to Conceptualise, which it appears to me to be a God given ability even more than a learnt one. You would be surprised at just how high a percentage of the population are unable to look at 2 dimensional sketches and be able to visualise in their mind what it should look like in 3 dimensions. Something that most modellers will do without even thinking about it.

When given a few simple tests that I devised some years ago, secondary (11 to 13 years old) children (and those children are now in their 40's) about 95 % of them couldn't do it. When I asked the children who could do it what toys they liked or had, nearly all said Meccanno, Lego and Fischer Technic., none of the others were interested in those things, a real eye opener.

At their parents evening I often asked the parents of the ones with the practical or assembly like toys, why did they buy them for their children…..most answered that their kids really enjoyed them and spent hours inventing new things. It just came about naturally like girls wanting a BB gun and boys an Action Man or even a Cindy doll. The parents could no more wire an electric plug than fly to the moon, so it didn't come from them!

When giving a seminar to teachers about childrens ability to problem solve, I gave all the delegates a simple box to assemble and only an exploded view of it . Despite the fact that they were all very intelligent and qualified teachers only a very few could do it. I almost decided to start my own IKEA furniture assembly service on the spot.

I spent many hours allowing my son to tinker alongside me in the workshop, he turned out to be what they now call 'Word Blind' or Dyslexic, but he could conceptualise. He didn't follow me into the field of wood and metal but is now a highly sought after and qualified stone mason. Although he likes models he's still not interested in building them. His ability led him to a love of architecture and stonework, but it was still very practical

There is no guarantee that just because we have tried to get our youngsters interested in building models for instance, but by laying the groundwork at an early age they may come back to it when they have more time and grown a bit older.

I've tried every which way to get local youth groups interested in modelling. They love it while I'm doing it, but very rarely will one go into it as a hobby.

Talk to most plumbers, builders, electricians etc about their ability to conceptualise. Invariably it is a skill that most of them will have….maybe we should be recruiting them into our model clubs. Perhaps arranging a few talks at the local college of further education for the practical course students might pay dividends..

I could go on but I'll let that lot settle first.

Happy boating………………RON.

Wise words

I think the desire to make a model is driven by the fascination of the full size subject we are trying to create, remember when it was a 2/- Airfix Spitfire or a keilkraft flying scale series 22" rubber powered, or a big one with a 30cc petrol on the front, the same desire exists. RC flying is still massively popular because of the 3rd dimension and the challenge of learning to fly it without crashing Kids like the speed they find it's exciting

My grandson's humour me with my boats, that's life !!

Regards Ray

Hi Chris,

Interesting how different people go through life, I too am 62 years young, done all the normal stuff kids, grandchildren full size boats & kit cars etc, but always had a workshop and built planes,trains & boats, it's my passion, life came 2nd to model making its just what I do ! Lucky me

I'm re-creating models from my younger days my take on the Keilkraft Otter Based on a Sun tug for MB's in the near future 15" long

Regards Ray

Edited By Ray Wood 2 on 31/08/2018 20:46:00