Lolly Stick Boats

Bought these lolly sticks from Mr DIY from waaaay back. I couldn't remember the price but apa-apa pun mesti bawah RM5 rasanya.I had some rough ideas what to do with them, but the kids were into other projects at that time....until I saw how to make a lolly stick boat in one of the DIY book, I figured, why not?

You will get two bundles of lolly sticks in one packet. You can find them in different sizes as well as colours. Mine is the medium size lolly sticks, I think. 

There are many ways of doing the boat/raft. Whatever you and your kids want to call it. This is just one example that I show to my kids. The kids are, of course, free to design and built their own boats. First, arrange the lolly sticks side by side.

Next, glue them together. Remember, do not use water-based glue if you are planning to keep everything intact..

Finally, place several lolly sticks, one by one, across the glued lolly sticks. Let the glue dry. And decorate them with anything you like. You can paint the lolly sticks. Add paper sails. Whatever your heart desires. And you are done. It is super easy, right?

 The kids came out with several designs as you can see below.

 Beautiful sail with batik prints. All you need to do is cut a triangle from any coloured paper. Make sure you make two slits and carefully slide the sail onto the mast of your boat. 

AZ found easier way to do the sail. She just glued triangle shaped paper to the mast.

Another way to do the sail. Don't forget to use the pegs to make the lolly sticks glued better together.

AM's added a ring buoy made from button.

All the different boat designs by the four of us.

 

All that is left to do is to test them. 

My husband and I have been trying to make it a must for all of us to go to the park once a week. And we are so lucky to live so near to TTDI park, which to us is a gem. We have done so many activities there; cycling, fish feeding, playing bubbles etc. We have been trying to let the kids play at the small stream there but the place is normally pack with people. So last weekend, I seriously thought that we should just try out our luck and we tried to come as early as we could and brought our lolly stick boats too.

Yup, still lots of people but we managed to find a spot. 

Yeay to us!

1,2,3....Off the boats went!

Our first sailboat racing to mark the start of a new year.

It was so much fun to see the kids running and jumping while rooting for their boats to win. 

Later we discussed how some boats are faster than the others and how we can make several adjustments to the designs to help the boats sail better. Throughout the whole process, the kids learn how some things float and others sink. They also learn how big ships are able to float even though they are heavy. 

You might want to give it a try. Even if it means testing the lolly stick boats in your tub.