Start with a plan. Have the students draw a design where 1 inch equals 1 foot. Choose where the door and the windows are going to be positioned. Measure the length of the cuts, and record the measurements on the blueprint.
Make frames for the door and the windows by nailing together the measured pieces of doweling. Remind students how important it is to stick to the plan.
Cut a piece of plywood to the size of the log cabin you want to build. Place the door frame where it is to go. Carefully nail five pieces of doweling, three for the walls and two on either side of where the door is to go -- cut to size so they meet in the corners. This is the floor of the cabin.
Glue the dowel logs on top of each other, and make them meet squarely at the corners. With older students -- or for a more authentic cabin -- the "logs" could be cut away to fit and extended over the edge, similar to the photograph.
Follow the plan and insert the frames for the windows as required. On the first layer, nail the frame to the wood to keep it in place. If the frame wobbles, have students hold it in place until it is secured with additional logs.
Use two pieces of plywood for the roof. Once the walls are up -- including the smaller ones to fit in the roof peaks -- measure the size of the roof, and allow an extra 10 percent for overhang to protect from the rain and the snow.
Drill a small round hole for the stove pipe. The hole should be on one side where the wood stove will go.
Lay a piece of doweling across the long part of the cabin for a beam, and secure it with nails. Hammer the plywood to the beam and the flat sides of the walls.
Oil the log cabin. Give the students some rags, and show them how to dab linseed oil and rub it into the logs to give it an authentic log cabin glow.