Reed Boats

The "reeds" we cut last week were too big and inflexible for our boats, so we came up with something else--dried out grass from the fence line.  It worked perfectly for our Egyptian reed boats.

After gathering the grass into bunches, we tied the ends with string, cut off the excess grass, and then shaped the bundle into a canoe shape.  We were pleased to see that the grass bent easily and held its boat shape.  

 

   Jacob and Emily played a good part of the afternoon with the boats and their little plastic Egyptian figures.  They built a model Egypt in the sandbox, complete with the Nile River, and then got out the hose and proceeded to flood the land.  At one point, Emily put on her swimsuit and played in the bathtub with the boats, which actually did float quite well.  All in all, it was a good way to end the school week.  

 

 

 The Great Sphynx