Move! Learn! Explore!
We were inspired by “I LOVE the Rain” (one of our books of the month) to make little stick rafts for bugs and fairies! We anxiously waited for a rainy day to bring enough puddles and streams, so that we could give this a try. Next time it’s raining where you are, gather your supplies, slip on those rain boots and raincoats, and head outside to create your own stick rafts!
Maine Early Learning and Development Standards (MELDS)
Bonus: This is a no-prep, low-waste, nature-based activity!
WinterKids LEARN, MOVE, and EXPLORE!
Learn: Construct stick rafts with nature items. Test them in a puddle or stream on a rainy day.
Move: Get outside and move about on a rainy day!
Explore: Find rain puddles, collect leaves and sticks, and test out which type will float the best.
Vocabulary:
Sticks, leaves, float, sink, raft, sail, wire, rain, puddle, stream
Procedure:
Step 1
Gather fallen leaves and sticks.
If you find long sticks, break them into smaller pieces… about the length of your hand.
Step 2
Find which leaves and sticks float the best in a rain puddle.
Set aside the sticks that float the best to use for your stick raft.
Step 3
This step works best with some teamwork…
-Arrange three or so sticks next to each other
–Person 1: hold the sticks together in place.
–Person 2: use the paddle wire to wrap the sticks together on each end.
*The less wire the better!
Step 4
Add a leaf sail, if you’d like!
Try to poke the stem of the leaf in between two of the sticks on your raft.
Or, set the leaf in place with some paddle wire.
Step 5
Set sail with your stick raft!
If there are other puddles nearby, try floating your stick raft in another puddle or stream.
Make another raft, try a different design to see what floats best!
Have stick raft races!
Play imaginatively with your stick rafts… create a scene for fairies and bugs to board the rafts and go for a sail.
Tip: Create the stick rafts indoors – we learned it was challenging to use the wire with wet and cold fingers!
And please remember to bring any wire debris home to throw away!
Extension: Now that you’ve given it a try, use what you’ve learned to draw blueprint designs for future stick rafts. Give those a try on the next rainy day!
