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Aluminum Foil Boat

This pirate themed science experiment is sure to engage your preschooler! Use aluminum foil to design a boat, then see how much weight it can hold!

 

Materials Needed

Aluminum Ship

Difficulty Level: Medium

Time Needed: 15 minutes

Best done: Indoors or Outdoors

Mess Level:Medium

childs hand in aluminum boat

Materials Needed

  • Tub: bathtub works as does a plastic container

  • Water

  • Aluminum Foil

  • Pennies

Time to Experiment!

  • Explain to children that they are going to build a boat out of aluminum foil. They will try to fit as many pennies as possible inside without it sinking. Show the children images of different ships so they can get an idea!

 

  • Ask each child how big of a piece of aluminum foil they want and break it off. (Please note, if they say they want a super tiny piece, let them, that’s all part of the scientific learning)!

 

  • Ask them to build a boat out of the aluminum foil (for this age group, we suggest showing them how you build a boat first so ensure they have an understanding of the activity).

 

  • Once they have created their boats, let them predict how many pennies they can fit in each one.

  • Let them count out the pennies and place in the boats! Who has the most pennies, who has the least? Why do they think this is?

Other Pirate Science Activities

Pirate Density

Pirate Density

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