Make a Sailboat for Mini Animals!

08-28-24 |

Crafts

If you look for Owen Fox’s house on the Village map, you will see that he lives right on the stream bank. He often likes to stand on the footbridge and drop twigs into the stream so he can watch how fast they float away. It was in the middle of one such twig race that Owen had a wonderful idea: “I should make a sailboat for my dollies!”

Owen does not find himself making crafts quite as often as some of his other friends, because he has so much energy that he doesn’t usually like to sit still. He prefers to spend time practicing his dance moves or chasing butterflies in the meadow. But every now and then when he thinks of a really exciting project, he is inspired to direct all his bountiful energy into making that thing happen. This was one of those times. However, he did think it would probably be good to have some help. Luckily he knew just who to ask: Gwendolyn Raccoon!

Owen skipped to Gwendolyn’s house, which is all the way on the other side of the Village and down by the lakeshore. He knocked politely and thought about what his boat should look like while he waited. Gwendolyn opened her door – wearing an apron and with a wooden spoon in paw, for she was making a batch of cookies – to see Owen jumping up and down with excitement.

“Gwendolyn, will you help me make a boat for my dollies?” Owen asked.

“I certainly will!” Gwendolyn replied. (She is a great lover of crafts.) “But I think we should eat these cookies first, for fuel.”

In this blog post you will see how Owen and Gwendolyn made their boat, and learn how you can make your own. You can also find our YouTube video tutorial here!

What you will need:

Sailboat Pattern
Some thin cardboard (such as a cereal box)
A ruler
A pencil
Scissors
Craft glue
A needle and thread or embroidery floss
Paint
A paintbrush
White felt for the sail
Felt, ribbon, or scrap fabric for decorative flags
Some foraged twigs

To get started, print out our free downloadable sailboat pattern and cut out each piece. Trace the boat pattern onto your cardboard, making sure to mark the fold lines.

You can use your ruler to help fold the cardboard neatly: just line up the edge of the ruler with the fold line, press down, and lift the cardboard edge.

Once the boat is all folded, glue it together using the cardboard tabs.

Now it's time to make the base for your boat's mast. Boat Fact #1: the mast is the tall pole that holds up a sail!

Trace and cut out this windmill-shaped pattern piece.

Fold this piece on the lines indicated by the pattern, just like you did with the boat.

Use the tip of a pencil to poke a small hole through the middle, then glue this piece together on the tabs. It will make a rectangular box shape. We tucked each corner underneath the other to help it stay secure, just like we would do on a big cardboard box.

Now glue it to the inside of your boat, closer to the stern. Boat Fact #2: the stern is the back of a boat.

Next is a very important step: paint the boat your favorite color. Owen tells us his is green. Lovely!

While the paint dries, it's time to move on to making your sail. Trace the triangle shape provided in our pattern onto some white felt, and cut it out.

You will need to forage two twigs: the longer twig (about 11.5") will be the mast, and the shorter one (about 4.5") will be the boom. Boat Fact #3: the boom is a horizontal pole that extends from the bottom of the mast and holds the foot of the sail.

With your needle and thread or embroidery floss, sew several stitches looping around each end of the boom twig to attach it to the bottom of your sail.

Do the same thing to attach the long edge of the sail to the mast. Leave a little bit of space at the top if you would like to attach a flag there later.

If you find that your stitches aren't quite strong enough to hold up the weight of the sail, add a dot of glue to secure them in place.

Owen and Gwendolyn decided to make a pretty red flag from a piece of velvet ribbon. You could do this with any ribbon, felt, or scrap fabric. Trim a v-shape into one end, fold the other end around the top of the mast, and stitch tightly in place.

This would also be a great opportunity to design your own pirate flag. Owen is planning to make one another day – he's thinking it should embody both kindness and the spirit of dance.

Next, cut a bunch of small fabric triangles. Owen chose yellow felt.

Stitch along the top edge of each triangle until you have one long string. Boat Fact #4: this type of decorative flag is called bunting.

It is time for the final assembly of your boat!

Glue a short twig to the inside back edge of the boat – you may also wish to add a piece of tape over it for security.

Stick the bottom of your mast into its cardboard base. If you have some liquid glue, use it to help secure the mast in place.

Finally, tie one end of your bunting string to the top of the mast and the other end to the short twig at the back of the boat. The tension from this string will help keep your mast standing upright. If you used any glue in this step, let your boat sit while it dries.

And with that, you have made a sailboat!

All you need now is a brave crew of sailors. Lodge the mini cat, Tulip the mini elephant, and ship captain Charlie the mini dog are ready for an adventure!