The days are getting longer and you are spending more and more time outdoors with your children. Children love splashing around in the water, whether in the sea in summer, in the swimming pool, or in the bathtub or sink on cold days. If you are looking for great craft ideas about water, you can, for example, make ships with children. In this article you will find great and simple projects for ships, sailboats and rafts made from various materials that you can do at home with your children.
Sailboat made from recycled plastic bottles
Our first project is this amazing sailboat made from empty plastic bottles. When your children are sailing the boat through the waves in the sea, it is advisable to attach a long string so that the sailboat does not disappear and can be easily held. You can also control the boat more easily with the string. You will also need waterproof glue to stick the two plastic bottles together, a wooden skewer and foam rubber or a piece of plastic bag for the sail. You are welcome to wrap the ship with a wide piece of foam rubber. Let your children get creative and decorate the sailboat to their heart's content. Building a pirate ship or a Viking ship, perhaps even with a captain, will be a lot of fun for the little ones.
Make ships out of tetra packs and other packaging
Empty PET bottles are not the only suitable recycling material for making ships with children. Water fun for the little ones is guaranteed with homemade boats made from empty tetra packs, plastic packaging or cans. These materials are waterproof and offer various design options, creating beautiful boats for children of all ages. You can make a beautiful steamer or glider with your child out of an empty milk carton and let it sail outside or through the bathtub.
Rinse the tetra pack well and cut out one long side with a cutter knife. Have your child paint the pack with acrylic paints. If you want to design a steamer, you can make small boxes for the chimney and cabins and place them in the empty packaging. If your child has decided on the sailing ship, you can create the mast from a wooden stick by attaching it with the hot glue gun. You can make the sail out of fabric or Tyvek. Of course, your child can decorate and paint the sail as they wish. If you want to make smaller ships with children, plastic containers such as cream cheese packaging are suitable craft materials. For a better hold, you can put the finished sail in a cork and stick it to the boat.
Styrofoam ships: Light and easy to make
Another craft material that can be used to create great boats and sailing boats without much effort is Styrofoam. If your child is a passionate ship collector, you can cut the hull and sails out of a Styrofoam sheet in the shape and size you want. Your child can paint the individual parts of the ship and then put them together with your help. The great Styrofoam ship is an excellent decoration for the children's room and can decorate both shelves and the desk. Those of you who are technically gifted and willing to experiment have the opportunity to make a boat with a drive. A tube with an inflated balloon makes the boat go fast.
Boat or raft made of pool noodles
You can also make small ships with children using floating swimming noodles, which are very useful for children in the pool or in the sea. You can either cut out slices of pool noodles in different colors or cut the water noodles in half and cut pieces into the desired size. Stick a wooden skewer or popsicle stick and make the sails out of paper or foam rubber. The boats are now ready in no time. You can use them to organize fun games on vacation or at a birthday party. Form two teams and place the swimming noodle boats on the edge of a pool of water. Now two players can compete against each other in the ship blowing competition. The aim of the game is to be the first to get your own boat to the opposite side by blowing hard.
The great swimming aids can also be used to make huge rafts, which transform the sea or the indoor pool into an unforgettable place for little bathers to splash around and play. You can make a great pirate raft with your children from several whole pool noodles. To do this, you have to tie the pool noodles together and create the sail from plastic sticks and a piece of fabric. You are welcome to create exciting competitions for the children and make the bathing fun even more unforgettable. With the self-made swimming rafts and another water noodle as an oar, the children will arrive happily on the other bank.
Creative use of wax
Have you already guessed where the red wax comes from? You probably know Babybel cheese, which is covered in a layer of wax. Instead of throwing away the wax after consumption, you can use it for various craft projects. All you need to do would be to warm the wax in your hands and form small boats. For example, your children can play with the wax boats by sinking ships. The principle of this game can be derived from its name. Each player tries to sink his opponent's ship by throwing stones. The opponents bombard each other with small stones. Whoever's boat floats the longest is declared the winner.
Cork boats are simple and environmentally friendly
Another great building material for a small boat that floats well and doesn't sink due to its lower density is cork. There are probably some wine corks in your household that you can use for this great and simple craft idea. To make a small cork boat, you will need three bottle corks tied together with two or three rubber bands. For the mast, you can insert a toothpick into the middle cork. If you are doing crafts for and with small children, you can use a popsicle stick instead of toothpicks. All that's missing is the sail, which you cut out of paper, fabric or foam rubber in the shape of a triangle and skewer with a toothpick.
You and your loved ones can make little rafts out of wine corks that glide easily over the waves. There is always something adventurous about rafts and the children will really enjoy making them and playing with them in the water. First, use the small drill to drill 12 corks lengthwise and on the short side so that you can connect all the corks in four rows of three corks each with wooden sticks.
Now you can cut foam rubber or cardboard to the size of the cork flange and stick it onto the corks and possibly also attach it with rice pegs. Insert the mast into the middle cork and attach a sail made of paper or Tyvek, which the children are welcome to design according to their own taste.
Recycling ideas for egg cartons, aluminum trays and paper
If you want, you can make the ships you built yourself more realistic and provide the necessary crew. For example, you can make a captain out of an empty toilet paper roll. The children can paint the cardboard tube in colors of their choice and glue paper arms to the sides. A foam rubber ball serves as a head, which the children give a face to.
In summer or on rainy days you can have many beautiful onesBuild shipswith children, even if you don't have a lot of craft materials in stock at home and if the craft shops are already closed. Let your creativity run wild and use disposable plates made of aluminum and plastic and create colorful rafts out of straws.
You can fold small ships out of paper with your children. The paper boats that everyone knows can be folded very quickly with a little practice and are very fascinating to children. The boats, which are made from normal paper, soak up water and often sink. The so-called aqua paper is now available commercially for cute origami ships.
The aqua paper is a waterproof paper that can float without absorbing water. The paper is white, but can be painted as desired with the appropriate waterproof paints. Even small children quickly understand and memorize the step-by-step instructions and will soon be folding more complicated paper ships all on their own.
Make ships with branches and driftwood
If you want to make a wooden raft with a sail with your children, you will need dry, straight branches that you cut to the same length. Place a few branches side by side and wrap them with a long thread, crossing the thread after each branch. Then attach two more eyelets across the bottom of the raft.
Now you can attach the mast to the middle of the wooden raft. You can tie two longer threads to its upper part and wrap them around the wooden pole a few times. You can tie the ends of the threads to the protruding ends of the branches lying across the bottom of the raft. You can use a piece of fabric or paper for the sail. If you want to design the boat exclusively from natural materials, you can use larger tree leaves for the sail.
Pretty ships that create a holiday and beach feeling in your apartment and are a nice decoration idea are boats made of driftwood that you have already brought with you from the beach or from a walk. You can either design the ship's hull from a single, larger piece of driftwood or you can also make several small pieces into the desired shape. Your children can decorate the beautiful sailboat with sand, stones and shells and turn the sailboat into a great holiday memory.
DIY ship made from popsicle sticks
Another great idea for crafting ships with children is this unique model made from popsicle sticks. This is an excellent way to reuse the popsicle sticks, especially for the upcoming summer. Simply glue the popsicle sticks next to and on top of each other with the glue gun and let the children actively support you and conjure up their very own model.
