Shovel facts for kids

Using a shovel to remove material from a train engine

A shovel is a tool used for moving loose material. Shovels have a flat bottom head which is angled slightly from the handle to enable scooping and moving of material.

Although a shovel can be used for digging, it is much less efficient than a spade. Spades are straight, and transmit force straight downwards. Shovels move loose material, such as coal, snow, gravel etc. They are usually made of metal at the bottom, and wood is sometimes used for the handle.

Types

Image	Name (and synonyms if any)	Description
	coal shovel	Typically has a wide, flat blade with steeply turned sides, a flat face and a short D-shaped handle. Over the years, various sizes for different kinds or grades of coal have sometimes been used.
	snow shovel	Often has a very wide sideless blade that curves upward attached to a long handle. A variety of styles are available. Some are designed mostly for pushing the snow, others for lifting it. The blade can be metal or plastic, but the latter is used to offer a lighter tool that maintains its shape. Some have one or more wheels.
	snow sled shovel snow scoop sleigh shovel	large and deep hopper-like implement fitted with a wide handle and designed to scoop up a load of snow and slide it on any slippery surface to another location without lifting.
	snow pusher
	grain shovel barn shovel	Has a wide aluminium or plastic blade that is attached to a short hardwood handle with "D" top. This shovel has been designed to offer a lighter tool that does not damage the grain. Early models were made from timber.
	spoon shovel	A long handle with a small, oval, cupped, inclined blade at the end, used in excavating deep, narrow holes. Its name comes from its resemblance to a spoon.
	gardening trowel	A trowel in general is a small, single-hand implement for digging, scooping, spreading, or otherwise manipulating dirt or other bulk materials (such as mortar). In gardening and horticulture, they are useful in planting and potting for digging holes and breaking up clumps of soil. Gardening trowels typically have strong, narrow blades with sharp points. They are a [small] type of spade.
	roofing shovel	A specialized prying tool that evolved from use of spading forks and pitchforks to remove old roof shingles and underlayment as part of roof repair.
	spade	A general category of shovels tailored to digging hard ground that must be broken with substantial force before it can be moved. Most spades have sharp or nearly sharp edges, often shaped as triangular points. (The typographical spade symbol, ♠, is a stylized icon derived from this idea.) Some spades lack triangular points but are fairly narrow. They are tailored to lawn cutting and to transplanting of bushes and small trees. In fact, their modern mechanized equivalent is also called a tree spade. Some usage prescriptions prescribe that the words "spade" and "shovel" should be held in contradistinction (piercing and digging [spade] versus scooping and moving [shovel]). Natural language does not widely follow these prescriptions; it more often treats "spade" and "scoop" as contradistinguished subsets under "shovel".
	square shovel	A general category of shovel that includes many types with a generally square outline (rather than being pointed like many spades are). But there is no rigorous, always-enforced distinction between square shovels and spades.
	scoop	A general category of shovel that includes many types with a generally dished or cupped shape, and typically a fairly square edge, tailored to scooping up dirt or other materials that are already fairly loose and do not need the groundbreaking force of a spade's point.
	fireplace shovel (see middle tool in image)	One of the fire irons used in a fireplace. It is used to tend to the ashes.
	toy shovel	Common plaything on sandy beaches, in sandboxes, or in yards, gardens, lawns, and fields.
	trenching shovel trenching spade drain spade	Generally a long thin blade with pronounced upturned side flanges. Used for digging trenches.
	entrenching tool	A smaller and sometimes collapsible shovel for creating and maintaining defensive fighting positions.

Images for kids

• 

  A man carrying shovels

• 

  A boy distilling a gutter with a spade

• 

  Typical action when shoveling material from the ground

See also

In Spanish: Pala para niños