Bottle Cap Sail Boats
Bottle Cap Sail Boats
Wind is a powerful force that humans
have harnessed with technology for generations. The sail boat was
one of the first technologies that took advantage of that resource.
I wanted to give Little M. The
opportunity to make a sail boat (or a few) of her own out of
materials that we already have available here at home. I needed a
small waterproof vessel, and disposable bottle caps fit the bill.
Add a mast and a sail, and you are ready to sail the seven seas (or
something).
You will need:
- bottle caps, washed and dried
- hot glue
- toothpicks
- paper
- markers, crayons, or colored pencils
The night before this activity, fill
the bottle caps about 1/3 of the way full with hot glue. Place a
toothpick in each one to act as the mast. If it falls over, wait a
minute or two and straighten it again. Eventually, the glue will be
cool enough to keep the toothpick straight.
Draw the sails on a piece of paper.
Our sails were squares: 2 in, 2 1/2 in, 3 in, 3 1/2 in. Feel free to
experiment with sizes and shapes. Invite your student to decorate
the sails. Help them cut them out. Poke the toothpick through the
bottom and top of the sail. You have a tiny sailboat!
Fill a large container (under the bed
storage containers work well) with water. Place the boats gently
into the water and try to blow them to the other side of the
container with straws or hand fans.
Of our four boats the two larger sails
capsized almost immediately. The other two boats lasted for about
ten minutes before they capsized as well. The boats can be dried out
and reused with new sails. Little M. greatly enjoyed this activity,
and I hope you will too!
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This is a really cute idea! I love that at the end you tested them in water to float!!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! We had so much fun racing them.
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