The light bulb moment
From humble beginnings in 2013, a Show & Tell at our daughter's Kindergarten planted the seed of what would later become Little Woodworkers™. 🌱
Our daughter's teacher knew that Jim was a Furniture Maker with a teaching background. She approached him to ask if he could make a workbench for the kindergarten. Jim thought it would be great to involve all 22 children in the making process.
He took it as an opportunity to teach them WHERE wood comes from, WHY we need it and HOW everything is connected to our environment.
A big task. Jim couldn’t wait.
We even made up little "Wombat Woodworker" badges for each child. Jim got stuck into preparing for it all and had so much fun. (This might have been an inkling on what’s to come. 😊)
The date for the SHOW & TELL was set for Friday, 9th August 2013 (much to the delight of Jim’s daughter.) Jim brought in all the wooden material, tools and whatever else he needed to show the kids. Oh, the EXCITEMENT!
Jim was AMAZED at how much the children enjoyed the making process and IMPRESSED at how much they were capable of at such a young age.
The kids were SO PROUD and admired what they had accomplished.
THAT pride on their little faces sparked the idea of what would later become Little Woodworkers™, offering a positive memorable experience to more children.
Jim couldn't stop thinking about it.
Fast forward a year, he took a leap of faith, resigned from his day job (making designer furniture at Jardan Furniture) so that both he and his wife, Kerstin, could focus on turning this idea into a business.
Things started happening…
We had a meeting in our kitchen, with two of our favourite kindergarten teachers (from Hampton Community Kinder) and Jim presented his initial concept to see what they think.
They LOVED it!
Next, Kerstin came up with the name Little Woodworkers™. A logo and brand was created, flyers were printed, a website was built.
And off Jim went to his first Teacher Network Meeting on 14th October 2014…
EDIT: As we turned 10 in October 2024, we published a Blog, FROM IDEA TO REALITY - MILESTONES, documenting all our Milestones over the years, all there to read in black and white, for anyone to see and for us to refer back to, so we won’t forget the good and the bad times, leaving no (mile)stone unturned! When I showed it to Jim, we were both surprised, „Wow, we actually did all that!?“ 😲
Make sure to check it out: FROM IDEA TO REALITY - MILESTONES
