Have you ever heard about whittling? Whittling is where you have a knife and sticks. If you want to do it, use any type of wood. But hardwood is difficult. And hardwood can bend your knife because it tends to be a harder wood. But the best wood is softwood. The softest woods are pine, balsam, and cedar.
To whittle, you swipe the knife along the wood, removing a layer at a time. Never swipe towards you. Always swipe away from you.
You have to be careful with a knife. But if you follow some basic safety rules, whittling can be so relaxing.