Using the . .

Pyrography machine
in schools

Children love pyrography

Peter Child pyrography machines are used in schools all over the United Kingdom. These 11 year old's at a Cambridgeshire school are using a pyrography tool for the first time. Within an hour they are producing original work. Even the difficult students (not shown!) are absorbed and unusually quiet.
After watching a demo they had been given small squares of sycamore to practice on and decorate as they wished. Clip art and tracing materials were available plus colour felt pens. Later they were asked to decorate wooden spoons, key ring fobs etc to sell at the school fete.

Shown here are some examples of pyrography produced in 2 hours from scratch. Very little prompting if any was required. The children themselves decided what they wanted to do. Although some photocopied "clip art" was provided the children nearly all invented patterns and decoration of their own.

A letter from the Ernulf school, Cambridgeshire, England. I reproduce the following with kind permission from a teacher at the school (the photo's above were from a different school)

At Ernulf in the technology department we have been using a Peter Child pyrography machine for about three years now. It is utilised to its utmost and the potential it has is as big as a child's imagination. It can be used for very simple designs such as personalised items right through every year and can be a valuable resource at "A" level. For example the most recent product undertaken was a "board games table" with transferable games board tops. Numerous games could be played just by switching boards. The games pieces are neatly stowed in drawers in the side of the table. The pyrography machine enables the student to work intricate patterns onto the surface with fantastic results eg. Snakes and ladders, Chess.

Any colour scheme can either be painted on with soft watercolours or coloured in pencils before varnishing. Soft coloured pencils add a subtle colour to the students pyrographed work. We find the whole process cheaper, easier and definitely more successful than painting their product overall as we have done since the year dot. Students find the machine very easy to use and can quickly become very skilled at using it for intricate work. Artistic skill is not needed as pictures can be transferred onto their project if necessary. Students queue to use it and enjoy it immensely. Well done - excellent product.
Val Ray - Ernulf School, St Neots.

Back to gallery index