Moana is one of the most beloved Disney characters. Learn how to build Moana’s Canoe with popsicle sticks. This Moana boat creation is great for Disney lovers!
Starting today and for the rest of this week, we are diving into the Disney theme for our homeschool summer camp.
Since this is our first attempt to do summer camp at home, we started with a theme that is familiar to our kids and something they are super excited about.
Thanks to Mom for All Seasons, and her 8-week summer camp program, we were able to set up the educational and fun activities for this week fairly easily. I need all the help I can get as a new homeschool mom! If you are interested, you can get $7 off with the code BETTY123.
Today, we dived into a Disney craft involving one of my daughter’s favorite princesses. I love Moana because she is such an independent and strong woman. She had to overcome her own fears and expectations of others and succeeded by being persistent and believing in herself.
So we built not one, but TWO different models of Moana’s boat out of popsicle sticks. Then we tested to see which one floats better!
How to Make Moana Inspired Popsicle Stick Boat
Materials:
- Popsicle sticks (or wooden craft sticks)
- Hot glue (you can also use Elmer’s glue, but I find hot glue works better with popsicle sticks)
- Skewer sticks
- Red sharpie
- Yellow construction paper
Directions for Moana’s Canoe #1
- Lay 5 craft sticks next to each other.
- Cut 5 craft sticks slightly shorter so that when placed perpendicular to the 5 craft sticks in step #1, the ends only stick out a little.
- Glue three of the cut popsicle sticks to the 5 craft sticks from step #1. Two of them should be at the ends of the popsicle sticks and one in the middle.
- Glue the remaining two of the cut popsicle sticks on top of the two cut popsicle sticks that are already glued to the boat. The middle cut popsicle stick should be left alone.
- Flip the boat over.
- Cut 3 more popsicle sticks so they are just a little longer than ½ of the length of a popsicle stick. This is the
- Stack the 3 cut popsicle sticks and glue them to each other.
- Connect the rest of the boat to the 3 stacked popsicle stick with 3 full-length popsicle sticks. Leave a little gap between two popsicle sticks for the sail.
- Cut the pointy end off the skewer stick.
- Squeeze a little hot glue between the gap and hold the skewer stick upright in the gap until the glue dries. This is the mast.
- Using scissors and yellow construction paper, cut a triangle with slightly rounded edges.
- Draw the red spiral on the yellow triangle.
- Using another skewer, poke two holes at two corners of the triangle.
- Thread the mast through the two holes of the sail.
- Try floating the Moana canoe on water!
Directions for Moana’s Canoe #2
- Place 7 wooden craft sticks next to each other. Position them at an angle. This is your base.
- Glue a craft stick at each end of the base.
- Flip the base over, and repeat step #2.
- Start stacking the craft sticks. Glue 2 craft sticks to the ends of the two that were on top of the base. Alternate sides until you reach the desired height of the canoe.
- Cut the pointing end off the skewer stick.
- Squeeze some hot glue at the end of the skewer stick. Place the skewer stick at the corner of the two sides of the boat and hold it until the glue dries.
- Follow steps #11-15 of Moana’s Canoe #1 above.
Now for the ultimate test – will the rafts float?
We filled up a large container with water and placed both of our Moana boats on the water. Good news … both of them float no problem!
The craft sticks are light and both boats have a large base, so both boats are buoyant.
Bad news … we don’t have any Moana figurine in the house, so princess Anna and Elsa are borrowing the boats for the time being. They brought along some friends, who appeared to be businessmen and a thug. Hey, we are not judging.
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