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Milk Carton Sailboat Tutorial

Craft your own "Milk Carton Sailboat" using a colorful sail and a repurposed milk carton.

My 1st graders are working on these fun boats now to go along with their explorer unit.  Okay, I know they are not really explorer ships, but we can pretend, right?  And they are so fun and cute.  The kids love them!

How to Make a Boat:

  1.  Gather empty milk cartons from the lunch room.  Wash and wash again to get rid of all those icky germs.  Let dry overnight.
  2.  Use a utility knife to cut the milk carton down the center.

Two empty and opened milk cartons of low-fat chocolate milk sit on a white surface.

3.  Use rolls of washi tape to cover the outside, inside and bottom of the “boat.”  At this point, you could seal it in Mod Podge, especially if you want the boat to float in water and hold up longer.

4.  To attach a flag, poke a striped colorful straw into a lump of Model Magic and stick that to the bottom of the boat.  Press the Model Magic down so it adheres well and form the Model Magic around the straw so it is secure.  Try not to touch it a lot while it dries.  I realized after I did this that it would have been easier to glue the flag on first. When I do this step with my students, I will have them glue the flag to the straw first.

Turn a milk carton into a fun sailboat, decorated with colorful stars, and a striped straw as its mast.

5.  Making the flag is easy.  Print out the templates below onto thick cardstock and choose to use either a triangle or rectangle flag.  After you have drawn your design, glue the flag pieces back to back with the straw sandwiched in between.

Create a colorful homemade sailboat using a milk carton, complete with a decorative sail featuring a heart and geometric shapes. Follow this fun DIY craft for an enjoyable project!

PDF Template Download:  Sails Flags for Boats Diagram showing the front and back views of triangular and rectangular sails/flags for boats in a Sailboat Tutorial.

In a future blog post, I will show you the boats that my students made!


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About Marcia Beckett

Marcia is an elementary art teacher and loves painting, drawing, sculpture, art journaling and clay. Her blog, Art is Basic, features many exciting art projects for kids.

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