Battleships
While the old family favourite with squared paper is fun, playing real battleships in the garden is much more exciting! And the whole process extends your child’s creative and strategic skills without them really being aware of it.
Provide some materials
Gather up all kinds of odds and ends; boxes and packaging from groceries, old paint and varnish from the shed, brushes, scissors and glue-sticks – it’s amazing how imaginative children can get once they realise they are going to get to destroy other people’s creations!
Work as two teams, if possible – so that ages and genders are shared out fairly. A range of materials to make boats can be used: paper and card, wood, and plastic pots. Provide sticks for masts, thin paper and fabric for sails (greaseproof paper is surprising good) and waterproofing options like sellotape, glue and wax crayons. Encourage the boat builders to think about stability and durability.
Paddling mayhem
Drag out the old paddling pool and float your boats on it.
Take aim
oSelect a weapon from a range you make available: a water pistol, blowpipe, some ball bearings, a small bouncing ball, some small water filled balloons etc.
o Everybody gets to have one shot at an opponent’s ship and no righting or moving of boats can be done by hand, although you can blow into the sails or fan them to get the moving while the ‘gunner’ tries to hit them. The winner is the last boat left on the surface. As a hint, origami boats made from folded paper regularly survive when much more ambitious constructions have sunk!