# Egg Carton Sailboats for Columbus Day
> Cut an egg carton into thirds for boats, then add a decorated foam sail on a craft-stick mast. It's a simple, recycled craft that opens up a chat about Christopher Columbus and why he sailed across the ocean.
- URL: https://www.funlittles.com/columbus-day-craft/
- Ages: 3–6 yrs · Difficulty: easy · Mess: low
- Time: prep 20 min, activity 30 min
- Works for: one-on-one, small group, whole class
- Skills: history, geography, fine-motor, vocabulary, shapes, creativity

## Materials (one batch)
- 1 piece Egg carton (polystyrene foam) (household)
- 1 piece Craft sticks
- 1 sheet Craft foam sheets
- 1 piece Scissors (household)
- 1 piece Clear tape (cello tape) (household)
- Stickers
- Markers
- Small toy people (the "first mate") (optional) (household)

## Safety
- Adult does the cutting of the egg carton and makes the incisions in the sails with scissors.
- Use clean, empty, dry egg cartons and wipe out any egg residue before kids handle them.
- If the boats go into the bath or a water tub, an adult stays with the kids the whole time.

## Before you start
- Cut the egg cartons into thirds, one section per child.
- For a group, consider pre-cutting foam sails or tracing shapes for kids to cut.
- Gather a few simple Columbus Day facts to talk about while crafting.

## Steps
1. Adult: cut the egg carton into thirds to make the boats.
2. Cut a sail from a foam sheet in any shape you like: triangle, square, even a heart.
3. Adult: make 2 small incisions in the sail, one above the other.
4. Push a craft stick through the two incisions to hold the sail up.
5. Put a piece of tape over the incisions so the sail doesn't drop down.
6. Decorate the sail with markers and stickers.
7. Insert the sail's craft stick into the egg carton boat.
8. Find a "first mate" and get ready to set sail!

## Tips
- Nothing wrong with your tot wanting a heart-shaped sail. Ours wanted her sails to be her favorite shapes.
- You can skip the incisions and just stick a craft stick to the back of the sail to hold it up.
- Start the chat with simple questions: Where do you live? Which country do you live in? Do you want to know who discovered this place? Is there something special about this day?
- Talk about why Columbus chose to sail and not fly. There were no airplanes back then.
- Words to explore together: history, years, transport, occasions and celebrations.

## The original post by TurkeyMom (2012)

How early is too early to teach kids about holidays and their importance? All that my kid has been hearing the whole of last week is about “Columbus Day Savings” and “Mommy needs to go shopping” I wanted to use this opportunity to teach her about occasions and celebrations and so I geared up myself with some simple facts to talk to Big S about Columbus Day and its importance.

### For the inquisitive mind

- Where do you live?
- Which country do you live?
- Do you want to who discovered this place?
- Is there something special about this day?

"World” in the eyes of a 4 yr old is very tiny. Talking to her made me realize that world to her is home, school, neighbors, friends , stores and grandmas’ house, which in our case is truly half-the-world away.

To keep things interesting we decided to make some crafts that signify the day. What can I make that I can use to talk about Columbus day?

You guessed it – sailboats.

So I started the conversation with

Hey , have you heard of Christopher Columbus?

Big S (immediate response) – Mom it's Christopher Robin !

Me: Who?

Big S: Christopher Robin , he lives on Hundred Acre Woods with Pooh Bear and his friends. For a second, I was dumb struck and then had the biggest and heartiest laughter. Literally!

After a good stomach hurting laugh, I gathered myself again to continue with my chat. Christopher Columbus is the person who discovered America. Columbus day is a celebration of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the New World. He sailed on a ship, all across the oceans and came upon this land. We spoke about why he choose to sail and not fly as there were no airplanes back then.

- Egg cartons(polystyrene)
- Craft sticks
- Scissors
- Foam sheets
- Stickers & Markers for decoration
- Cello tape

### 

### Step 1

Cut the egg carton into thirds.



### Step 2

Cut the foam sheets to make the sails. Big S wanted her sails to be her favorite shapes. Nothing wrong with your tot wanting a heart-shaped sail. Make 2 incisions on the sail and insert the craft stick through it to hold the sail up. We attached a tape at the incisions to make sure the sail did not drop down. You can choose to just stick a craft stick at the back of the sail to hold it up.





### Step 3

Once the sails are built, it's time for all the decorating.





### Step 4

Insert the sails into the egg carton boats.



Time to find a "first mate" and ready to set sail.



- Words: History, Years, Transport, occasions & Celebrations
- What is Columbus Day?
- What are we celebrating on this day?



Is anybody going shopping to avail the Columbus Day discounts?

Thanks for reading.

Happy Sharing!

Please take a moment to comment.

---

Hello Visitor, Thanks for stopping by our little space here. We encourage you to stick around and take a look at [**couple of**](https://www.funlittles.com/paint-with-spaghetti-brooms/) our [**popular posts.**](https://www.funlittles.com/animal-resist-painting/)

---

---