Better than Paper Boats

Play Equipment

1. Wax paper
2. Aluminum foil
3. Paper boat instructions
4. Sticks to push the boats along

My 5 year old adores origami transportation. Many, many times I have crafted a piece of copy paper into an airplane or boat. The airplanes seemed worth my time, providing at least a half hour of entertainment. But the paper boats always left a bit to be desired, sinking much too soon. Their untimely demise made Chad wonder what we could use instead of paper, and our alternative paper boat experiment began.

Using these instructions, I folded one boat with wax paper and another with aluminum foil. Chad chose the foil, asking me first which one was the hardest to fold (it was the foil). He thought the resistance would make it stronger - and he was right.

The wax paper boat immediately fell apart, but the foil boat lasted for at least an hour! Even when it sank, we just picked it up, drained it, reformed it, and set sail! The foil boat was very popular, Chad even gained a few spectators. After rolling down a grassy hill and poking sticks into the pond, we considered the afternoon well spent.

Need more ideas? Head on over to Ramblings of a Crazy Woman.