Popsicle Sticks & Masking Tape

I find that if I give my nephews tape and almost any other material, they can come up with some pretty cool stuff all on their own. My nephew happened across a bag of popsicle sticks and a roll of masking tape and soon whipped up this delightful -- and entirely seaworthy (or at least sink- and bathtub-worthy) little raft.
How we did it:
Materials List
- craft sticks / popsicle sticks
- masking tape
-
Here he's using it with his battery-powered toy hamsters, but it also works really well to float plastic or foam toys in the bathtub. This is a fairly conventional raft design, but there are, of course, innumerable variations of other vehicles and structures as well.
-
Popsicle sticks are the perfect size for small hands to manipulate, and great for fine motor skills (lining up the sticks side-by-side) and counting practice ("how many sticks should we use for our raft?") Who knew you could find such a remarkable toy for just a penny apiece! What creations have your little ones made with popsicle sticks?