Mini Float Boats

So our little girl friends in Brazil got fairy dolls and little houses (here if you missed it), but we knew the boys would probably didn't want a flower doll. We wanted to make something they could all play with together, or on their own, so we made little boats and peg boys to go with them. These were so easy, quick and cheap to make. We made 20 I think and I don't know if we even used a whole pool noodle. This is a great summer craft/toy for kids.

Here's what you need:

pool noodle

duct tape

wooden skewer

serrated knife

scissors

craft knife 

Here's how you make them:
1. Using the serrated knife (I just used a steak knife) cut a 4" piece of pool noodle.
2. Cut the 4"piece in half down the middle; then it should look like this:

3. Turn the pieces over and cut off just the round edge to make the top of the boat flat. Like this:

4. Cut a 5" piece of wooden skewer, keeping the pointed end on one side. I used smaller skewers to start with, you can see they were about 8" long, and a little thinner than average BBQ skewers. This is the perfect length for the boat, because we then used the 3" piece that we cut off to make little fishing poles.

5. To make the sail: slightly overlap 2 pieces of duct tape, 3.5" long, sticky side up. Then use 2 more pieces to cover the sticky sides, so you have duct tape on front and back. Use the scissors to trim up any sticky edges. You can use additional thin pieces if you want to make a stripe down the middle or other designs.

6. Use the craft knife to cut 2 small slits in the center of the sail, 1/2" from the top, and 1/2" from the bottom. Then slide the skewer through and insert the pointy end into the flat side of the pool noodle boat. Now you have a boat! 

If you want to make a fishing pole, just use the piece of skewer you cut off (or cut a 3" piece), and hot glue a small length of nylon thread/yarn to the top. Cut 2 small fish shapes out of felt and hot glue the thread in between them. 

To make the peg guys we actually used the fabric paints (the same ones we used on the fairy houses). These have such fine points it was really easy to do details like eyes and mustaches. They are a little quirky, but we'll call that "personality." I especially like Thing One's in the back with the "crazy eyebrows" ; ) We sent a big group of fishermen and boats to our little friends in Brazil. I think they will be given to the kids with the story of how Jesus's closest friends came to be his friends in Luke 5.  I love that story, because those guys didn't do anything different than they had been doing. They'd been fishing all night and caught nothing, but when Jesus said put out your nets one more time, they were willing to trust Him, and it made all the difference. I hope that the boys in Brazil will like them. I picture them having boat races in a little stream somewhere. I hope that these little homemade gifts are just a reminder that they are loved. I think these boats would be great for Operation Christmas Child boxes too! I hope you are enjoying summer with your favorite people!

Thanks for reading!

**To see other things we've made with pool noodles, check out these posts:
Pool noodle ball pit & Light sabers
Pool noodle basketball hoops
Pool noodle hurdles/soccer goals
Pool noodle wreath base
Pool noodle indoor putt-putt course