For the second year in a row, our local craftsman Stepan Knyazev has been sharing his skills with the kids in February.

In today’s world, where everything can be found on store shelves, a generation of consumers is growing up. In the past, children used to make rattles from goose feathers, attach them to bicycles, and joyfully race around the yard. Nowadays, there’s no end to the variety of rattles, whistles, and other accessories sold in stores.

While younger children still use their fingers to shape clay or build Lego models, the older they get, the more their fingers “stick” to the shiny surfaces of gadgets. Often, it’s not just children, but their parents too, who don’t know which way to hold a drill.

This workshop was organized, so to speak, “at the request” of the participants from the previous one. The boys kept asking, “When? When?” The list filled up instantly: new faces joined the regulars.

This time, Stepan came up with more challenging tasks than before. But the difficulties didn’t scare the participants, and even the beginners managed to handle the models.

The teenagers finished building their either a horse rearing up on its hind legs or dragon first. They worked in pairs: one held, the other screwed. It was much easier that way. The others worked alone. So, the older kids had to help the younger ones.

It’s worth mentioning that no one complained, groaned, or asked for help. They panted: assembling, disassembling, sorting through, but they didn’t give up.

The only girl among the participants was also the youngest. Biting her lip, she carefully examined the details of the lamp she was assembling. She furrowed her brow, making adjustments. Teamwork always goes faster. “Need help?” the older kids asked. The girl nodded silently. Together, they assembled the lamp. It was hard to tell which shone brighter: her eyes from joy or the light from the lamp.

One of the boys was building a three-headed dragon. Two heads fit into place, but the third one kept “falling asleep.” “If only I could bend this part a bit more,” he sighed, pointing to the attachment. “What if we used a different attachment?” suggested the older kids.

Three friends, our regular attendees, were arguing about the names of the parts and discussing the “technological” process of assembly.

Our kids created  the wonderful thins!