Boat Races

On our drive down from the canyons tin foil dinners I was inspired by the wash.  The area where overflow from the river goes.  I thought, “wouldn’t it be fun to make little boats and race them down the streams?” (At this point I am trying to think of anything to keep my children entertained over summer break without spending any money.)
SO I invited my sister and her kids to join us for a picnic and experiment.
We gathered a few  toy boats that were in our toy boxes just to see how they would measure up against our hand made ones. The material of choice was squash, mostly because there is a plethora of it this time of year.  The rest of the boats were made out of whatever the kids could find in the recycle garbage. 

It was great to see the creativity of the kids,, and how they tried to measure the buoyance and stability of their boats.  The trick was they weren’t allowed to test their boats until we got to the race.Each boat was different in style and ability.  Ellies turned out to be the most stable.  Williams was a good design with pontoons on either side.  Brennens was 2 cups taped together and that did really well never catching on anything.  My nephew Paul had the fastest boat made with 3 zucchini and a sail.  Little Jenni had the cutest boat that looked like one a fairy would have. (It was crocked neck squash hollowed out) Unfortunately hers didn’t work quite like she wanted it.  Shane's was quite detailed but too heavy to do well in the little stream. (His was made from wood.)  We also had one made from a bell pepper that did surprisingly well.
After the kids raced their boats a few times they decided to build a dam and that kept them entertained for quiet some time.  It was a fun way to spend a day with cousins.