I started carving when building a toddlers rocking horse for my one year old daughter.  After having put most of it together I got to the head.  The instructions suggested that I could carve the head and showed me how to do it.  I decided that the carving was easier than trying to join two bits together and I haven't looked back!  Over 35 years later, my daughter now has children of her own who have just outgrown it.