Woodcraft Students build Toys for Tots Design                      January 2012

During the spring of 2011 CAD Engineering students were asked to design wooden toys for children ages 3 and under. The students designed the toys on our Computer Aided Design (CAD) software and then created wooden prototypes of their designs.

Production
Beginning in the month of October 2011, the Woodcraft students were presented with the challenge to produce wooden toys as part of a mass production unit in the class. Part of the challenge this year was to develop an educational toy for young children. The class was responsible for taking the toy design all of the way through the production model discussed in class.

The students donated funds to pay for all of the materials used to build the toys. Based on this number the students set projections, selected a toy puzzle and wooden rattle for production, helped to design, learned how to program the CNC, took on various roles of production and inspection, and worked very hard to complete the two designs before winter break.
This year the students used two new technologies to help in the production of the toys. A Computer numeric Controlled (CNC) Router and a Laser Engraver, which were donated to the Woodcraft program by the Lake Forest Foundation. These technologies allowed students the opportunity to experience modern production methods and develop toys while learning these new techniques.

After a month of hard work the students were able to complete nearly 100 of the toys.  The toys were picked up by Local Coordinating Officer of the United States Marine Corps Toys for Tots Foundation. The toys will be distributed to families across Lake County Illinois and some parts of southern Wisconsin.