What do you get when you combine an old juice carton, a Coke can, two straws, and a lot of hot glue? A handmade steam powered boat with no moving parts, that's what. And who made it? Belle and I, that's who.
Belle LOVES the movie Ponyo, and I do too. In it there's a little boy named Sosuke who has a toy boat powered only by a candle. At some point there's a flood and Ponyo uses her magic powers to enlarge the boat so they could both float around in it. So the other day I went online looking for one of these bad boys and found a tutorial to make your own out of household materials Macgyver style. It was a very thorough tutorial and took a bit of time, but when it was done it actually worked!
The engine is composed of an airtight folded up piece of aluminum can with two straws sticking out of it. The candle flame causes steam vapor in the metal to shoot out of the straws providing thrust. It's awesome! After doing a few test runs in the backyard we added a little paint job to match Sosuke's boat. I also put together a paper Ponyo and Sosuke set to ride in the boat. Now all we need to do is take it to the park and see if it runs on the lake. For that I added a little hook to the back of the boat so we can attach some fishing line. I'd hate to do all that work just to see it float away forever.
Anyways, I highly suggest making one of these. You probably have everything you need right at home. Do it, and have fun.
I think we're going to work our way through all of their projects. Next on the list for us is one of those Origami Hang Gliders. Putt putt boats unite!
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