Half a walnut shell, a blob of clay, a toothpick and a paper sail. Ten minutes of making and then a whole afternoon of racing them across a washing-up bowl.
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We cracked walnuts for a cake, my daughter refused to let me throw the shells away, and by the afternoon we had a fleet.
The making is genuinely quick, which matters — the point is the water, not the craft. Ours raced in a washing-up bowl on the patio until the sails went soggy.
Blowing them across the water with a straw turned out to be the whole game. We have done it every summer since.
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Crack the walnuts along the seam with a nutcracker to get clean halves — a grown-up job, and it takes a couple of attempts.
Press a small ball of clay firmly into the bottom of each shell. This is the ballast and it is what stops the boat capsizing.
Cut a small triangle or rectangle of paper and pierce it twice with the toothpick so it sits like a real sail.
Push the mast into the clay, straight up. Check it floats before decorating any further.
Fill the bowl and launch. Add a second boat and you have a race.
Blow them across with a straw, then try making waves with a hand and see which boat survives.
At dusk, swap the mast for a short birthday candle, light it and float them in the dark. Stay right there while it burns.
Too much clay and the boat sits low and tips; a ball the size of a pea is plenty. Waxed paper or washi-tape sails last far longer in the water than plain paper, which goes soft within minutes.
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