As tends to happen from time to time, my son put off a school project until much later than he should have. So instead of spending a week or two making a ship for school, we did it in a weekend. I think there could have been so many more fun details, but we certainly accomplished the main objectives.
His task was to build a caravel, a ship that had at least one triangular sateen sail that was used by the Spanish in the 15th century. He did a great job coming up with the designs, drawing the shape out on the wood, and with some assistance, shaping the body.
And of course, he also had to name his ship. Considering our family’s recent attempts to learn Spanish together, and the Spanish origins of the caravel, he came up with “Dama Del Mar”, which means Lady of the Sea.
It seems hard to fit projects like this into our lives sometimes. I find so much enjoyment in seeing his creativity come out though. I also love to be able to teach him and be there to help him experience things like using the tools or seeing an idea come to life. So worth making time for. Perhaps it’d be even better without a deadline looming overhead.
What do you think?