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How to Make a Sailboat From a Milk Bottle

Making toys out of recycled household items provides an ideal opportunity to teach kids about the importance of recycling, while also giving them something to play with. Milk bottles are items we regularly throw away, but they can make lots of different toys, from racing cars to spaceships and sailboats. When making sailboats from milk bottles, always make sure that kids are playing with them in an area where the boat can be easily retrieved, such as a swimming pool or bathtub---otherwise your boat may contribute to polluting our seas and waterways if it gets lost.

Things You'll Need

Plastic milk bottle
Scissors
3 straws
Hot glue
Lightweight fabric

Instructions

- 1
  Cut the side off of your plastic milk bottle, so that the spout and lid of the bottle remain, but most of one side is cut away. Lay the milk bottle so that the hole is facing upwards. This is the sailboat body.
- 2
  Place a blob of hot glue in the bottom of the sailboat, in the center. Place one straw immediately in the glue, positioned vertically for your main sailboat mast.
- 3
  Glue a second straw horizontally onto the mast, around 1/2 inch from the top, then the third straw parallel to this one, but around 1/2 inch higher than the body of the boat.
- 4
  Cut out a rectangle of the lightweight material, big enough to fit between the two horizontal squares. Run a line of hot glue along the two horizontal straws, and press the fabric onto the glue, securing the sail to the mast. Your sailboat is now ready.

Educational Toys