Paper Boats And What Else Floats?

Our Random Boating Experiment


We were reading one of my daughter's short storybooks and at the end of the book there were instructions on how to make a paper boat. So, of course, we just had to try it out! We made the paper boat and filled her sensory bin with water + some blue food coloring to make it look like the ocean (per Caitlyns request). This was awesome by itself and it kept her enthralled for about 10 minutes, but it turned into so much more than a paper boat on water!

Making waves to see how the boat moves.

Using a balloon pump to blow wind on the boat! I love watching her creativity and imagination when she is left to explore.



This is where is got interesting. She dropped the balloon pump in the water and discovered that it floats. And an experiment was born.

You can see here that she found all sorts of things to try out. Most of the things she tried did float. But not the water beads or the green stone. Another great density experiment.

She wanted to see if ice floats, so we took some of the cubes we made for ice painting and threw them in.

I like to include my youngest whenever I can :)