How to Make a Fun Milk Carton Sailboat from Everyday Objects!

Build this great Sailboat with just a few items you canstrap, try using a 3 inch piece of tape, roll it onto itself
find around the house. This is a fun craft for kids,lengthwise, and flatten it. Next carefully wrap the strap
parents, teachers and educators to learn to build, andaround your mast and tape it to the boom.
you can make it with very simple supplies. Just follow7.Add a bowspirit!
the instructions, and view the video and photoYou can attach a bowspirit to the front of your
step-by-step instructions for more information.sailboat hull. Use the excess piece of taped straw left
Getting Startedover from your boom. Tape it on the front of your
Always use your imagination and be creative whenship. Add a layer of blue tape to the front, so that it
building this project or any others. It's your creation, somatches your mast and boom.
be inventive when looking for building supplies — you8. Start rigging your boat!
just may be surprised! When building your project,The more time you spend on adding string for your
experiment with new and different ways of putting itrigging, the more realistic your sailboat will look. I like to
together. The most important thing is to have fun!start off by making holes at the corners and a few
Find these or similar supplies!more on each side of the sailboats hull. Use a hole
Blue Masking Tape (Optional For Customizing)punch, and add holes around the edges of your hull.
Regular Masking TapeTry to space the holes as evenly as possible if you
String or Threadcan.
Straws or Sticks9.Add a mast-tip!
Milk CartonAnother great tip that will make rigging your boat
Plastic Bageasier is to carefully cut small slots at the top of your
1. Cutting your carton!mast and on the ends of the boom and bowsprit.
Place the carton down on a surface with the open10. Keep rigging!
side facing up. Using a ruler, measure and markStart out by tying a long piece of string to one of the
halfway points at each corner, like you see here. Next,corner holes you punched earlier. Next, run it up and
use the ruler to draw a straight line from point to pointover the mast, laying through your mast slots. Then pull
all the way around the carton. By cutting on this line,it down tying it to the opposite corner. Continue this
you will create a perfectly even boat hull. Now cutgoing from corner to corner, side to side and front to
your milk carton in half.back. The most important thing is to use your
2. Taping the carton!imagination and be creative!
Start the first row of tape at the bottom. Tape your11.Make the sails!
carton all the way around, leaving about an inchCut your sails from a plastic bag. Hold them in place
excess off at the front. Add two or three first rowagainst your mast to see if they will fit, and ether
layers, until you no longer see through to any printing onre-cut new ones or make corrections as needed. Do
the carton.this until you have the shapes and sizes that you like
3. Keep adding tape!for your sails.
Continue adding layers of tape about 1/4-inch up from12.Tape your sail!
the bottom of the layer below. I like to add two layersPlace a piece of tape, sticky side up on a flat surface.
of tape for each taped row, ensuring that you will notIt may help to hold it in place by taping the ends down.
see through. This also makes it much stronger.Now carefully place your sail down the middle of your
4. Tape the top!flipped tape, like so:
Finish up by adding blue tape for the top row, folding it13.Finish the sails!
carefully over and into the inside.Now fold the tape carefully in half onto itself. Trim off
5. Make a mast!any excess tape and repeat steps 11 and 12 until your
I like to use straws for my masts. However, you cansails are ready to install. You can tie them onto the
use just about anything, like a stick, or a pen or pencil.boat by punching holes along the edges like you see
Straws work the best. Start out by covering twohere. (Or you can simply tape them onto your mast.)
straws with tape. This makes them look like real14.Finishing touches!
wooden masts. You can add a strip of blue tape atVOILÀ! — a milk carton sailboat, made from trash!
the top for a cool finishing touch.You can add flags and all kinds of cool stuff. It's your
6. Make a boom!project, so be creative and always use your
You can make a boom that moves by using a strapimagination! The most important thing is to have fun!
that wraps around the mast. Start by cutting a 5–6You can see specific photo and video step-by-step
inch piece from the second taped straw. To make theinstructions for this project here.