Art Project #25: Making Our Own Rafts

We had so much fun over the winter making our own sleds and I thought back then that it would be fun to make our own floats this summer.  I figured it would be a fun hands- on science lesson.  I wasn't really thinking of the art of the design until one of the boys pointed out that it could be part of our 100 Days of Art Challenge too.

When I realized we were already half way through July I decided it was time to put that plan into action.

I told the boys they'd be designing their own float using pool noodles, zip ties, string, bubble wrap and anything else they thought they might need.  By the time we ended we had added duct tape and an old beach towel to our list.

I allowed them to decide how many noodles they needed and we took a trip to the dollar store to stock up on supplies.

They each had their own ideas and a few times we had to modify them; like when the noodles kept splitting in half when we tried to zip tie them together end to end to make a circle or when we found that the zip ties were a bit painful to lie on.

They were all so serious and involved designing their float just the way they pictured.  It was great!  

Evan was the first one done and was eager to test out his float.

His completed design 

He sunk a bit and had a hard time getting balanced 

But ultimately he did get it to help him float along in the water 

Unfortunately his noodle ave way to the pressure of the zip ties and snapped open.
So of course Evan used that opportunity to pretend it was a bow with an
invisible quiver of arrows instead. 

Ian ended up using the most noodles of everyone and created a large float.  He quickly found that without cross pieces the noodle all bunched up and didn't work; so he worked a bit longer and perfected his design.  He also decided that a towel would help protect him from the pointy zip tie ends that were left after he had trimmed them.

Here he's settling his first design attempt into the water

And it failed! 

Design attempt number two; complete with outriggers & towel 

It worked like a charm! 

Alec took the longest to think through his project.  He had so many ideas and had a hard time narrowing down what he wanted to do. He ended up using the widest variety of supplies; pool noodles, zip ties, string, duct tape and bubble wrap!  He finally had a float that was unique and to his liking. 

His completed design 

It worked and held together rather well too!  

Our other art projects:
Project 1: Painting with Hexbugs
Project 2: Tissue paper flowers
Project 3: Star Wars Crafts
Project 4: Watercolor compass circles
Project 5: Floral pens
Project 6: Watercolor outlines
Project 7: Scratch art jellyfish

Project 8: Oil pastel flowers
Project 9: Fingerprint dandelions 
Project 10: Beaded Sun Catchers
Project 11: Bird Crafts and Snacks
Project 12: Color Mixing Butterflies
Project 13: Water Gun Art 
Project 14: Using Watercolor Kits
Project 15: Dragonfly Silhouette Paintings 
Project 16: Painting Pet Rocks
Project 17: Spray Paint Resist 
Project 18: Water Bottle Windsock 
Project 19: Stained Glass Kits 
Project 20: Tin Can Windsock
Project 21: Firework Glue Art
Project 22: Qixel Art
Project 23: Makit Bakit Kits 
Project 24: Wood Burning Project