From Duct Tape to Victory Part II

In my last post, I described how from my first introduction to duct tape crafts at WOW, duct tape has taken on a surprisingly large role in our household.  Our latest adventures:

Duct tape boat IV was constructed this summer, with PVC pipe and duct tape.  It didn’t represent any major innovations in design, but was an incremental improvement over our prior designs.  Sinking the boat in the pool became a frequent activity.  My son even made some design adjustments so it would sink faster.

Then, we watched an episode of Mythbusters, where they made a bridge out of duct tape.  You guessed it.  We constructed a duct tape suspension bridge (hung from ropes) across our pool this summer. 

Now, you would think that knowing how to build boats out of duct tape for a 13 year old to paddle across your pool (and under your suspension bridge) wouldn’t be a terribly useful body of knowledge.  Think again!  A nearby town runs a summer cardboard canoe race.  My son and his friends (with help from my husband)  designed a boat out of cardboard (which looked remarkably similar to our duct tape boats), and covered the bottom with packing tape, which kept the water out.  With cardboard boats sinking all around, their boat finished the course in the fastest time.  My husband (a mechanical engineer) proudly declared that it was the best designed boat in the contest, and at the end of the race was in good enough shape that it could have raced again.  So, once again, learning duct tape crafts at WOW led to victory (and both times for my son).

I was looking for another family project this summer.  My kids really like watching youtube videos.  The really good ones are funny and very creative.  Well, that route wasn’t going to work for us.  But, we do know how to make cool things from duct tape.  So, we looked at youtube instructional videos for duct tape crafts, and decided that the world needs a better video on how to make a duct tape coin purse.  If you’d like to see our first foray into video production, check out:     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A6diKBDRXM

I’m teaching duct tape at WOW in October.  So, if you would like an in-person instructor who brings all the supplies, cool samples, and can answer your questions, come to WOW.  You never know where it will lead!

-Louisa

WOW Blog - From Duct Tape to Victory

I love going to WOW.   The first time I went to WOW, I learned to make a water bottle holders and a coin purse from duct tape.  I brought that back to my service unit for our cabin camping trip for cadettes and older girls. The girls loved it!  It is now a tradition that we do this activity at our 6th-7th grade cabin camping trip every year.

And duct tape has pervaded my household.  My daughter, a percussionist, made drum stick holders for herself from duct tape.  She color-codes her folders/notebooks for school with duct tape.  For my son's Star Wars birthday party, we made light sabers and light saber belts out of cardboard tubes, pipe insulation and duct tape.  While on vacation, we used duct tape to make small toy boats to play with in the pool.   My son wanted to make a boat that he could ride in.  So, using two full rolls of duct tape, a piece of masonite and some tree branches, my son (with a little help from us) made a boat that he could paddle around in the pool.  Of course, we had to improve the design because the boat wasn't stable enough to support me.  So boat II used pvc pipe instead of masonite and tree branches.  While boat II could support my son or me, my husband still sank like a rock.  So, boat III is like a catamaran, designed and built by my husband with pvc pipe and duct tape.  Who would have thought that learning to make a duct tape purse would lead to us learning about boat design.

Since you never know when duct tape will come in handy, my son brought duct tape on his 6th grade outdoor education overnight trip.  He attributes his team's victory in the scavenger hunt to duct tape, because they were able to use duct tape to make a really silly hat.  I'm sure you can imagine the types of things that 12 year old boys would tape to a hat.

So, WOW leads you to duct tape which leads you to creative constructions, to learning about engineering/design, and on to victory!

Louisa Ho

WOW Blog - So Much for One Day

I look forward to attending WOW each year because there are a lot of opportunities for learning all in one day!

And it's not all just arts and crafts. I've attended a 'signing' workshop, a bridging workshop and a Dutch Oven Cooking Workshop to name a few. Sometimes I choose a course because it just sounds fun - even if it is too advanced for my Brownie Troop. Other times I've taken a course because it may give me ideas or confidence to do it with my troop. Two years ago, one of my Brownie Troops learned to sign the Girl Scout Promise. They enjoyed that so much that we decided to earn the 'Signing Friends' Try-it from our Council's Own!

 This year's choices were tough! I hope to learn more about 'Lashing' (I got a taste of it in my outdoor skills training), 'Doing it with Duct Tape' and 'Geocaching' to name a few. And I hope that the Saturday evening weather is good, cause I'm up for a Bonfire! The little fire bowl in the back yard just isn't the same! See you there!!

Wanda Adamson