5 Ways to Make Boats | A STEM Activity
We decided to try out this boat making STEM activity the other day and take our homemade boats down to a stream to see them in action.
Conclusion: the kids loved the boats! All the boats. They also all floated pretty well. The boys' favourite part - of course! - was racing all the boats down the stream.
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How to Make Boats that Float
We were thrilled that all of our boats actually floated. We built them at home and then tried floating them down a stream.
You can also do this activity with a kiddie pool in your back yard, in a large puddle after a rainstorm, or in the bathtub.
One thing that we found about boats that float v. boats that don't: when paper sails get wet, they make the boat extra top-heavy and prone to capsizing.
Our paper boat, when we made it out of card stock, and our tin foil boats were the boats that floated the best. They were the most durable in water, and they were not prone to capsizing.
The stick boat, the straw boat, and the cork boat all floated quite well - until their sails got wet. The stick boat was the boat that still floated the best even with a wet sail. The cork boats all tipped over with wet sails, and the straw boat was more prone to capsizing with a wet sail.
Turning Your Boat Making into a STEM Activity
Making and floating boats is already a STEM activity, since you have to engineer your boat and figure out how to put it together and make it float.
But to add some other STEM elements and turn your boat making activity into more of a science experiment, you can do a few things:
- See which type of boat floats best. Which type is most durable? We made 5 different types of boats, using sticks, straws (the paper kind), paper and cardstock, corks, and tin foil.
- See if you can add cargo to your boat. Use pennies or nickles (or anything else you can find that can get wet) and stack them on or in your boat. How many can you add to your boat before it capsizes? Which type of boat can hold the most cargo? (Note: do this in a kiddie pool or a bathtub, not a stream.)
- Experiment with boat design. For the stick and the straw boats, we just glued our elements together in a straightforward raft. Are there other ways you can construct your boat? Can you make it into other shapes? Which method is the most durable? Least likely to capsize? Holds the most cargo?
How to Make a Boat out of Straws
We used paper straws to make this boat, and glued them together in a flat raft design.
Materials
- paper straws
- hot glue
- popsicle stick and paper triangle for a sail (optional)
Making your boat
- Cut your straws in half. We used 4 straws cut in half, giving us 8 half-straws for our raft.
- Glue the straws together in halves. We glued 2 sets of 4 together before gluing both halves to each other in step 5.
- Glue the paper triangle to the popsicle stick to make the sail.
- Glue the popsicle stick to one half of your boat.
- Glue the two halves together so the the popsicle stick sail is in the middle.
The popsicle stick sail is optional. It makes the boat look more like a boat, and less like a raft. But when a paper sail gets wet, it makes the boat much more likely to capsize.
STEM experiment: Try a straw boat with a sail and without a sail. What difference does it make?
Also, try loading your straw boat with cargo (like small coins). How many can you fit on before it capsizes.
Experiment with size for your boat construction as well. Try full size straws to make a bigger raft. Try more and fewer straws to make a wider or skinnier raft.
How to Make a Boat out of Sticks
Our stick boat was constructed in a very similar way as our straw boat. We found some sticks (my kids have a huge stick collection!) and glued them together. We also added a sail to this raft.
Materials
- sticks in whatever size and shape you can find
- hot glue
- paper or fabric triangle for a sail (optional)
Making your boat
- Gather enough sticks to make a boat. You only need a handful. They can be small or large.
- Glue the sticks together in halves. We glued 2 sticks together, and then another 3 together. If you're going to make a sail, don't glue the two halves together yet.
- For a paper triangle: glue it to another stick to make a sail. For a fabric triangle: tie both ends to another stick to make a sail.
- Glue the bottom of the sail to one of the stick-halves.
- Glue the two stick-halves together so the the sail is in the middle.
The sail is optional. It makes the boat look more like a boat, and less like a raft. But it is a bit clunky and can be tricky to attach to the boat. We used some extra hot glue around the base of the sail to make it stick.
STEM experiment: Try a stick boat with a sail and without a sail. What difference does it make?
Also, try loading your straw boat with cargo (like small coins). How many can you fit on before it capsizes.
Experiment with size for your boat construction as well. Can you make a small boat with twigs? A giant boat with big sticks? Try more and fewer sticks to make a wider or skinnier raft.
How to Make a Paper Boat
We found instructions on how to make an origami paper boat for this boat making activity. Here are some visual instructions.
This boat is pretty simple.
Materials
- regular 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper or card stock
Follow the instructions for how to make a paper origami boat.
Or use the paper origami boat video tutorial.
Make it into a STEM experiment: Try different types of paper. We found that regular paper disintegrated in water pretty quickly. Card stock, however, made a very durable boat even when it got wet.
How to Make a Tin Foil Boat
This was hands-down the easiest of our STEM boat making experiments. It also made a really durable and really fast boat.
Materials
- a sheet of tin foil
Making your tin foil boat
- Fold your sheet of tin foil in half once, and then again (so that you have a square, or close to a square).
- Pinch two ends together to make the front and back (bow and stern) of the boat.
- Fold and pinch and fiddle with the ends so that your bow and your stern of your boat are fairly stable. You don't want the tin foil coming apart when you put the boat in the water.
STEM experiment: Load your boat with cargo, like pennies or nickles (or anything else you can find). How much cargo can you get in your boat before it capsizes?
How to Make a Cork Boat
Making cork boats was another super easy STEM activity for the kids. I think this boat version was also their favourite.
Materials
- corks (2 per boat)
- popsicle stick
- paper triangle
- rubber bands
- glue
How to make a cork boat
- Place two corks side by side and wrap a rubber band or two around them.
- Glue your paper triangle onto a popsicle stick to make the sail.
- Slide the sail in between the two corks. If your rubber bands are tight enough, the sail will stay in without glue.
STEM experiment: Try making the boat with more corks. Can you make a boat with three corks? How does adding corks change the boat?
Can you add cargo to your boat? How much can you add before it capsizes? Can you add cargo evenly so that one side isn't heavier than the other?
Rebecca is a chaplain at a girls’ school, a mom to boys, and a crafter of all things. She crochets in every free moment she has, and she spends much of her time gluing cotton balls to toilet paper rolls and mopping up glitter.
