A Boat-Building Activity

Ships Ahoy!
Fireworks, cookouts, lemonade stands, family vacations and fresh fruit pies – that’s what July is all about. On a stroll around your neighborhood, you and your children can look for signs of summer: wading pools, dogs panting, bathing suits, picnics, flowers blooming and flags waving.

Summer is also a good time to scout for boats. You and your child have probably seen floating vessels: Our waterways are busy with all types of interesting boats – row boats, sailboats, tugboats, steamboats, airboats, motorboats, cruise ships and barges, to name just a few.

To launch your child’s understanding of various types of boats, gather up magazines with pictures or visit the library or bookstore. Then try this boat-building project, which will teach your little sailor about one of the many different ways to propel boats and introduce the physics of floating.