DIY Walnut Shell ⛵Sailboats 💦Water Science 🔬 💡⚖️ 101 🎥 Series 🎇

Children love water play. So, today, we are making a lake using a baking tray filled with water on which your child can sail small boats made from walnut-halves.

 What you will need:

• walnuts,
• colorful cardstock to make sails,
• toothpicks or thin straws with a tip cut to a point,
• modeling clay,
• deep tray (we are using a large baking tray) filled with water and some blue coloring; we also added seashells and jell-water beads.

To make the boats, open walnut shells along the edges, being careful not to damage the half shell. Then show your child how to make a sail from a piece of sturdy cardstock cut to form a triangle. 💡TIP, a sail cannot be too wide, as it might get wet on the sides, weighing the boat down and making it sink.

Place modeling clay in the bottom of the half-shell and put the mast into it to hold it upright.💡 TIP: you need to place just a small amount of modeling clay/play-doh, just enough to hold the mast.  

Use a toothpick or a cut-straw for the mast and mount the sail by poking the toothpick through the cardstock at the right points, so that it can catch the breeze.

Will the sailboat sink or float? The answer is how heavy the half-shell is: if you put too much modeling clay/play-doh, then the boat will be too heavy, causing it to sink. Also, strong "wind" (like Adrian blowing –  see a video below) might tip the boat over too.

https://player.vimeo.com/video/222922071

A child can now launch the sailboats on a man-made lake and gently blow to create a breeze.

 For more on science experiments:

• see here a post "💛💙❤️Primary Colors, 💦Water & Paper Capillary Action ⌛️Timelapse ⚗️ Kids Science Experiment (🌈 Rainbow Walking Water),"
• and here a video-post "Float or Sink❓Tangerine 🍊 Science Experiment (Science 🔬 💡⚖️ 101 🎥 Series 🎇)."