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Building agency through carpentry in early learning
Fiona Alston
May 22, 2025
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The Australian Government has recently announced investment to increase women’s participation in construction and clean energy. While the focus is on future workforce participation, the message is clear: building confidence with tools, design and problem-solving from the early years can lay strong foundations for lifelong agency and opportunity regardless of the path a child takes.
If the next generation is to enter these sectors with confidence, interest and capability must begin early. Experiences such as carpentry in early learning can be a first step not only toward understanding tools, but toward believing “this space is for me.”Risk and rewardAs with any meaningful learning experience, the goal is to manage risk thoughtfully rather than eliminate it entirely.
Approaches such as using soft wood, golf tees and small mallets can help services build confidence and introduce basic skills safely before transitioning to more complex tools.
Research and practice continue to support this approach, emphasising the importance of benefit–risk assessment. Rather than removing challenge, educators are encouraged to scaffold safety and recognise children as capable participants in decision-making even when engaging with real tools.
Linking carpentry to quality standards
In the context of the National Quality Standards, carpentry aligns strongly with:
- QA1 – Educational program and practice: providing meaningful, hands-on experiences that extend on children’s interests and abilities
- QA3 – Physical environment: creating engaging spaces that support both challenge and creativity
- QA5 – Relationships with children: allowing educators to observe and support children’s problem-solving and persistence in real time
Providing children with authentic materials is one of the clearest ways to honour their rights as capable, curious learners.Final nails in the toolbox
As early learning environments become increasingly ‘clean’, ‘safe’ and pre-packaged, there is a risk of losing the beauty of raw, messy, real-world learning. Carpentry serves as a reminder that children are not just passive participants they are builders, designers and engineers in their own right.
In an economy actively seeking to rebalance gender representation in construction, energy and trades, what is modelled and normalised in early childhood settings matters.
Before packing away the tools for good, what would it take to reintroduce real tools into early learning program? What support would educators need to feel confident? And how might children respond if given the chance to hammer out their own ideas?
Sometimes, agency starts with a plank of wood and a handful of nails.
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