Learning about the Mayflower Paper Plate Craft and Free Template

Kids can imagine what it was like to be on the Mayflower with this educational paper plate boat craft with FREE template of the decks inside.

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Explore the Mayflower with kids this Thanksgiving while they make an easy craft and learn American history. The free template comes with a cut and fold diagram of the inside of the Mayflower that kids can open and close. It also comes with 6 sails to to add onto 4 masts for a crafty replica of the famous ship. To go along with our history activity we also watched some video clips and read some books together. When we were done with this activity my kids could tell you about the different layers of the Mayflower (upper deck, lower deck, and cargo hold), who was on the Mayflower, how many people were on the Mayflower, where they sailed from, where they landed, and much more.

While you are here gather more Thanksgiving Activities and get a printable Mayflower Voyage Map Craft for kids to learn more about history, get these Thanksgiving and Turkeys Notebooking Pages, and let kids Color and Read this Thanksgiving Book. 

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Suggested Video:

The Mayflower by History.com

Inside the Mayflower Paper Plate Craft

Supplies:

• Mayflower craft template printed on white paper
• Paper plate
• Brown paint
• Paintbrush
• Scissors
• Glue
• 2 Regular sized popsicle sticks-affiliate link
• 2 Small sized popsicle sticks-affiliate link
• White craft paper

Directions:

Cut paper plate in half, and have the children paint the top brown, and set it aside to dry.

Next, children cut out the craft template making sure not to cut on the dotted line of the boat template.

Fold the boat template on the dotted line and paint the outside brown. Make sure to help them fold on the reverse side of the boat measurements so when the template is on the boat it will be brown like the boat.

Once the main part of the boat is made, the children can glue the two tall popsicle sticks towards the middle of the boat and the two smaller popsicle sticks towards the front and back of the boat.

Next, glue the sails on. As we did this part we talked about the difference between engine boats and sailboats. Before we glued the sails on we blew them across the table. The Mayflower’s sail power managed to travel at a 2 miles per hour–they were cruisin’!

Help the children glue the boat template on making sure to only put glue on the reverse side of the boat deck layers.

The Mayflower had 3 levels. The upper deck was mostly reserved for the crew. The lower deck was where the pilgrims remained. I can’t even imagine being inside a boat with 102 people for about 2 months. This area was less than 6 feet tall–cramped, I think yes! The lower deck is where they kept the supplies.

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