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Home / How to Make a Ship Out of Popsicle Sticks

How to Make a Ship Out of Popsicle Sticks

Use wood craft sticks to create your own Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria ships.

Materials

  • EZ Grip Paint Brushes, 5 pack
  • Washable Paint Jars
  • Craft Sticks 1000 Pack
  • Craft Glue
  • Card Stock Paper
  • Heavy Duty Scissors **May require adult assistance
  • Masking Tape

Instructions

Step 1. Gather your supplies.

Step 2.

Creating the ship base: take (5) Craft Sticks and cut them into 1/4 inch, 1/2 inch and 1 inch pieces. Set these pieces aside for a later step.

Step 3.

Take (8) Craft Sticks and lay them next to each other. Glue (1) Craft Stick diagonally across the (8) sticks to secure the shape.

Step 4.

Finish the base by cutting a Craft Stick in half and gluing the ends to form a "Z."

Step 5.

To create the bow of the ship, cut (1) Craft stick in half and glue the halves to the top side of the ship base to form a triangle.

Step 6.

To create the stern of the ship, take a ruler and cut (2) 2 inch pieces from one Craft Stick. Cut a third piece that measures approximately 1 1/2 inches.

Step 7.

Glue the (3) pieces together (from Step 6) to the back end of the ship to form a trapezoidal shape at the stern of the ship.

Step 8.

Make the sides of the ship by gluing (3) small pieces of Craft Stick (from Step 2) horizontally across (3) Craft Sticks. Repeat so that you have (2) identical "sides."

Step 9.

Make the sides of the bow by cutting (3) Craft Sticks in half and then gluing (2) small pieces of Craft Stick (from Step 2) horizontally across each set of (3).

Step 10.

Make the sides of the stern by cutting (3) Craft Sticks into 1 1/4 inch pieces, then glue (2) small pieces of Craft Stick (from Step 2) horizontally across. Repeat to have a set.

Step 11.

Glue the sides of the bow and the stern to the base of the ship. Tip: Use masking task to secure the pieces into position as they dry.

Step 12.

Glue the sides of the ship inside the bow of the boat and outside the stern of the ship as shown.

Step 13.

To enclose the back of the stern, cut (4) pieces of Craft Stick to 1 3/4 inches. Glue together with small pieces of craft stick and attach to the open back part of the stern with glue.

Step 14.

You will not enclose the bow. Glue (5) pieces of Craft Stick inside of the boat to finish the triangular form of the Bow.

Step 15.

Enclosing the top of the stern: place (4) Craft Sticks across the top of the Stern. Follow the trapezoidal angle of the stern with a ruler and mark with a pencil. Repeat on the other side.

Step 16.

Use heavy duty scissors to cut the stern pieces along the angles drawn in Step 15 and glue in place.

Step 17.

For a finished look, measure and glue Craft Sticks to the top of the sides of the ship and to the top of the bow.

Step 18.

Glue (3) Craft Sticks as masts to the ship; (2) in the center and a smaller mast to the back of the ship. Glue a small piece of wood craft stick to each side of each mast to help it stay in place. Glue a Craft Stick to the front of the bow. This is a bowsprit. Tip: secure all pieces with masking tape until dry.

Step 19.

Paint the ship with Washable Brown Paint. Add extra water to your paintbrush to create a washed out wood grain look.

Step 20.

Creating Sails: Take a piece of poster board paper or card stock paper and cut (3) small squares. the center square should measure the largest at about 2×2 inches.

Step 21.

Lightly fold each sail in half and cut a small slit.

Step 22.

Paint each sail with the symbol of the Red Cross, as seen on Columbus' ships the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. Paint additional accents to the ship, such as windows.

Step 23.

Attach the ship sails with a dab of glue and voila! You have literally built a ship!

How to Make a Ship Out of Popsicle Sticks

Source: https://www.craftprojectideas.com/columbus-day-wood-stick-ship/