Last night, our youngest son, Tyler, stopped by for the proverbial college visit (do laundry and eat supper!). He told us about something that he and his girlfriend, Lisa, did that sounded like great fun. I think it would be a splendid activity that you can easily do with grandchildren — building cardboard boats and having a contest to see which one would float.

Tyler and Lisa got some flat pieces of cardboard. They developed their own boat design and cut out the cardboard. Next, they used a hot glue gun to glue the pieces together. They painted their boats using acrylic paint. They added sails and then attached a string so that they could easily pull their boat back to shore. When they were finished, they took their boats to a local pond for the floating contest.

They had three impartial judges . . . well sorta impartial. They were Lisa’s nieces and nephew. The judges voted first on the best design/paint job. To Tyler’s joy, they voted that his boat looked the ‘coolest.’ (His is the blue ‘thunder and lightening’ boat.) However, to Tyler’s dismay and Lisa’s joy, when the boats were placed on the water, Lisa’s came out the winner. Girls rule!

Here are some pictures of their adventure.

Spring weather is almost here. This would be a perfect time to have an outside activity with grandchildren. Fresh air and warm sunshine will lighten the winter weary soul.

So, if you have some spare cardboard hanging around your house, some acrylic paint, and a nearby body of water, gather up your grandchildren. Then, design, create, and sail cardboard boats.

You could give prizes for the most unique boat design, the boat that stayed afloat the longest, the best sail, the best paint job, the funniest paint job, the most unique paint job. You get the idea. Maybe have small prizes for the awards. After sailing the boats, have a picnic lunch with your grandchildren in a nearby park.

This activity will definitely keep grandchildren happy (and occupied) for several hours.

Heave Ho!
Cap’n Digi-Gram

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