Family Boatbuilding:

Involving Kids in Boatbuilding

Beveling the chine logs on a Wacky Lassie

Boatbuilding: An Integrated Interdisciplinary Approach for the Elementary School Classroom...a project I am developing for teaching groups of children

Resources - Links to other programs:

Wooden Boats Family Boatbuilding '98: 60 families, 60 boats, 1 weekend!!!
Family Boatbuilding at Wooden Boat 99: 52 families, 52 boats!!
Urban Boatbuilders of the Twin Cities: building communities...one boat at a time
Philadelphia Wooden Boat Factory Youth Programs: hands-on learning for youth at risk (another article
Building Bridges, Building Boats, a high school program to build the local "Hudson River shad boat"
Rocking the Boat in the Bronx, where Adam Green recruited teenage volunteers with sidewalk posters! Also, NY Times and Bronx Beat articles on the project.
Leo's Bolger "Pirate Racer" project with elementary-aged kids
Bevin Sciff: a good simple family boatbuilding project

Resources in Print

Wooden Boat Magazine's "Community Boatbuilding Manual" ($12.95)
The Butz/Montague "6 Hour Canoe" and "Weekend Skiff" each have excellent "community boatbuilding" chapters at the end, about building boats in groups.

My compilation of safe boatbuilding materials for kids.

Lessons learned in my experiences:

Drill
Drilling can be mastered at an early age. Mark the drilling locations, use drill stops....and be prepared to snap off of few bits!!! LaunchFun
Make launch day a fun group activity! Set limits, watch carefully, but let them have fun and horse around (safely) with their creations! Lots of energy here!

Mentor
Mentors are critical! One mentor per boat seems to be a good rule of thumb for group projects (my experience, Mike Hanley's). Mentors need not have experience with boatbuilding or woodworking (but Bill here did, and was a great help), just be able to keep kids moving along, listen and repeat instructions, and solve problems.
In mixed age groups, older kids can be very effective mentors too!

Hammer Keelnail
Young children hammer most effectively on the floor. Set them up, let 'em go, and take their time! Boatbuilding strategies that take advantage of this are easier. For example, in Wacky Lassie we preassemble chine logs to sides, and keel to bottom, flat and on the floor. Then we bend around the molds. Nailing sideways, on the less solid molds, is harder for kids.

Teams of 2 to 4 are very effective.
Tombstone drilling teamwork!

Taking time out to play with their projects is an important part of the process for kids!

Back to Fritz's Boat Page

Contact: Fritz Funk (fritzf@alaska.net)

Drilling can be mastered at an early age. Mark the drilling locations, use drill stops....and be prepared to snap off of few bits!!!	Make launch day a fun group activity! Set limits, watch carefully, but let them have fun and horse around (safely) with their creations! Lots of energy here!
Mentors are critical! One mentor per boat seems to be a good rule of thumb for group projects (my experience, Mike Hanley's). Mentors need not have experience with boatbuilding or woodworking (but Bill here did, and was a great help), just be able to keep kids moving along, listen and repeat instructions, and solve problems.	In mixed age groups, older kids can be very effective mentors too!

Young children hammer most effectively on the floor. Set them up, let 'em go, and take their time! Boatbuilding strategies that take advantage of this are easier. For example, in Wacky Lassie we preassemble chine logs to sides, and keel to bottom, flat and on the floor. Then we bend around the molds. Nailing sideways, on the less solid molds, is harder for kids.
Teams of 2 to 4 are very effective.	Tombstone drilling teamwork!
Taking time out to play with their projects is an important part of the process for kids!