Shipshape Boat Craft

Make a sailboat out of a shoe box!

Submitted by
Kayla Chong

Your children's imaginations will set sail when they craft their very own shoebox boat. Have the kids pretend that your living room is an exotic island and you won't have to go anywhere to have a great adventure! (If only you could get a fabulous tan while you're at it!)

Shoebox:
Another excuse to visit Zappos.com!
Scissors
Tape
White glue
Construction or wrapping paper:
Enough to cover the shoebox, plus one extra piece of blue construction paper.
Paint and paintbrush:
If you don't want paper to coat your boat, you can paint it.
Three corks:
Have your girlfriends over and crack open the Chianti! Hey, it's all for the kids' sake!
Cardboard:
Another shoe box or a pasta or cereal box will work well.
Two pipe cleaners:
Just in case you (or your kid) were wondering, pipe cleaners got their name because they were originally created as tiny handless brushes used to clean smoking pipes.
String
Boat "captain":
Your child's favorite doll or stuffed animal.

Cut off one of the short ends of the shoe box.
Then cut about a third of the way in on both sides of the box where the sides meet the bottom.
Bend the sides inward, trim the bottom into a point, and tape the sides together to make the front (pointy end) of the boat.
Now that all the cutting is over, get the children involved and have them cover the shoebox with the construction or wrapping paper. Tape it or glue it in place. If they don't feel like paper-coating it, have them paint it.
To add seats, help the kids glue the three corks to the bottom of the boat. (Hopefully you had a lot of help polishing off those bottles of wine and don't have much of a headache from collecting the corks!)
Cut out a piece of 1-inch by 3- or 4-inch piece of cardboard and glue it on top of the corks to create a bench.
To add "water," cut the piece of blue construction paper into four equal strips. Then, have the kids draw the shape of a wave onto one of the strips, place it on top of the other three and help them cut it out. You'll have four waves.
Glue the waves onto the side of your boat.
Create a fishing pole by tying a piece of string around a pipe cleaner.
What good is a fishing pole without a fish? Have the kids create a "catch" by drawing the shape of a fish on a piece of construction paper or cardboard. Cut it out and voilà! Dinner!
They can also make an anchor by taping one end of a piece of string into the inside bottom of the boat and tying or taping a penny or small stone (the anchor) to the other end. Have the kids hoist it aboard when they want to go cruising and toss it overboard when they want to take a breather.
All aboard! Have the kids load up their boat captain (doll or stuffed animal) and set sail on the high seas of your living room rug!