Funhouse kids learn about making boats that will actually float

||| FROM EMILIE GINCIG for FUNHOUSE COMMONS |||

The Funhouse Afterschool Program partnered with Sail Orcas in March to offer STEM-based boat building classes using recyclable materials that were donated by The Exchange. Some really cool boats were built out of Legos, paper, cardboard, aluminum foil & wood pieces. Everyone had the opportunity to build a few boats of their choice, and then got the chance to see if their boat would float in water. There were lots of surprises & laughter all around!

Julia Soes, Head Coach & Program Manager with Sail Orcas led The Funhouse kids in the fun experiments, building boats from “trash.” Together, they learned about buoyancy and surface tension. The kids quickly realized that not everything floats and not everything makes a good boat.

“My goal was to get kids excited about sailing and to start thinking about the science behind sailing before they even get on the water,” said Julia. “I took a course to become a STEM instructor with US sailing and I was eager to put my new, learned knowledge into practice, which is how the Recycled Regatta Program was formed.”

“We loved partnering with Sail Orcas for this fun learning opportunity” said Emilie Gincig, Funhouse Executive Director. “It was a creative way to introduce sailing and science and the kids had a blast!”