Okay kiddo, have you ever seen a piece of wood that's really long and skinny? You know, like a stick? Well, sometimes in woodworking we need to make those really skinny pieces of wood a little thicker so we can use them for things like building furniture or making decorations. And one way we do that is with something called a float.
A float is a special tool that's kind of like a flat, skinny file or sandpaper. We use it to smooth out the surface of the wood and make it a little bit thicker. But we don't want to take off too much wood, because then the piece would be too skinny again. So we use the float very carefully, taking off just a little bit at a time until the wood is the right thickness.
It's kind of like when you're eating your favorite cake, and you want to make sure you don't eat too much because you want it to last a long time. You take small bites so you can enjoy it for longer. That's what we do with the float - we take small "bites" of wood so we can have a thick piece of wood that will last a long time and be really sturdy.
So, that's what a float is and what it does in woodworking. It helps us make skinny pieces of wood a little bit thicker by smoothing out the surface carefully, so we can use them to build things that will last a long time.