Simple Cardboard Sailboat: Nautical Craft for Little Ones

Crafts For Kids

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I love a good reduce, reuse, recycle craft and that’s exactly what this simple cardboard sailboat craft is! It’s affordable and fun for all ages. Your kids can hang them from the ceiling, pretending they are sailing in the breeze. Or maybe there’s pirates in the bay. Your children’s imagination is endless with this fun cardboard sailboat craft.

Growing up, my grandfather had sailboats. There was nothing I enjoyed more than visiting in their small coastal town, and jumping on my grandfathers sailboat.

This craft not only brought joy to my kids, but also made me feel nostalgic.

Simple Cardboard Sailboat

This craft is great for reusing unused cardboard (especially if you’re like me, and spend too much time on amazon).

Supplies

Most or even all the supplies, you may already own at home. If not, you can easily find them at your local dollarstore or craft store.

  • Cardboard
  • Paint & paint brushes
  • Pencil
  • Scissors
  • Popsicle Stick (optional)
  • Glue
  • Yarn or twine

How to make a simple cardboard sailboat

Start the craft by drawing out your sailboat design. You, as a parent, or your child, can draw the sailboat. I suggest drawing the sailboat with a pencil so that you can easily paint over any markings. Once your boat is drawn out, an adult should cut out the pieces with proper scissors.

After cutting out your sailboat, make sure to take a pencil and puncture a hole at the top of the sail. It’s much easier to do this before you paint the cardboard.

Painting the sailboat is by far the best part of the craft. You can really indulge in your creativity here. Let your kids, or you, have fun with it!

You can use google or Pinterest for any inspiration as how to paint the boat by looking online at real sailboats.

OR

If you’re like me and lucky enough to live next to close (or any body of water that has sailboats), take a walk down to your local wharf.

There are many different ways you can paint your sails. You can paint them all one colour or paint the sails (a main sail and jib) separate colours.

Stripes are nautical. Adding horizontal or vertical stripes are a beautiful touch, as seen above.

Taking your mast, we are going to glue it to the back of the boat, ensuring you don’t put the glue too close to the edge of the boat.

After gluing the boat, glue the sails onto the mast by placing a small amount slightly below the top of the mast. Gently place on the mast and leave to dry.

Tie some twine or yarn in the hole we made in the beginning and now you’re done!

Extra Ideas

If you plan on hanging these sailboats from the ceiling, I’d suggest also painting the back of the boat. This way, as the boat spins, you won’t see plain cardboard back.

However, you don’t have to use this craft as a decor piece. You can let your childs imagination take control, and they can create different stories for each boat they create. A pirate ship? Maybe the Bluenose? Let your children decide!

If you craft one these boats, make sure to tag me on Instagram, get crafty with kate! I’d love to see and share your creations.