Blog  |  Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Educational Activities to Teach Your Kids About Yachting

While yachting in East Cape, you’ll glide through sapphire waters, spot rare marine animals, and bask in the sun-soaked climate that southern Baja is known for. Yachters enjoy exploring the coastline of East Cape with their children, with so many natural wonders and islands to visit.

The scenery won’t disappoint, but as you embark on your next adventure, consider adding a few educational activities to your onboard itinerary. Through a series of games and challenges, you can teach your kids about yacht safety, taking care of themselves while on board, and how to appreciate the beauty around them.

Consider adding these activities:

• Engine education

  Help children learn each component of the engine by turning it into a game. Take them to the engine room, and play a round of “Guess That Part,” where you quiz your children on the names of the most important pieces.

  If you have a little more time to prepare, consider an engine scavenger hunt. Write clues that describe each component, and task your kids to solve the riddle and point out the part in question.

  You can vary the difficulty of these games on age and knowledge. Start off by identifying a few basic parts and as they grow, start adding more to the list.

• Meal making

  If you’re yachting in East Cape, the chef and culinary crew likely make and serve delicious meals. But, do your kids know what kind of planning and preparation goes into each one?

  Consider challenging your kids to create a meal plan, purchase the groceries, and make a meal onboard.

  Talk about what a healthy meal looks like and what kinds of fuel they need to enjoy their favorite activities like snorkeling and jet skiing.

  When you port, ask them to shop for the ingredients they need, noting how difficult it is to find certain items in smaller stores.

  And finally, set them up in the kitchen to make the meal. Depending on their age, they’ll need some assistance, but talk about how important it is to stock up on food, how to use a small kitchen space, and discuss the work that goes into each meal service.

• Exercise challenge

  Your family may be on the water for several days straight. While you likely have plenty of room to roam onboard, highlight the value of exercising with a fitness challenge. Task your children with brainstorming three ways to exercise on the deck, and then make plans to complete each exercise throughout the week.

  Encourage exercises like yoga, workout videos, or dance routines. Ask your kids to put together their own workout, setting blocks of jump jacks, push ups, and crunches, for example, in a sequence.

  Be mindful of space and safety.

• Navigation knowledge

  Understanding how to plot a course is important for any seafarer. While kids may not take much interest in picking destinations, most are interested in tech. As a way to introduce navigation, challenge your kids to use tools, like a GPS, combined with a compass and a map, to find the next port.

  Explain what they see on the GPS, pointing out the features and how it correlates to the sea and land. Ask them to use their compass to see if the GPS matches the direction. Break out the map and talk about how the navigation system is really a digital map and how generations of captains used paper maps to get from place to place.

  You could even introduce navigation when you’re riding on a jet ski or out fishing. Stop the jet ski for a second and look at the GPS, or show the kids how the fish finder maps the topography of the ocean below.

  As kids grow, you can ask them to get more involved with trip planning and navigation.

• Spotting marine life

  Encourage a love of marine life through fun and games. Consider making a sea creature bingo board, asking your kids to place a marker on each animal they see. On your next snorkeling trip, take a disposable underwater camera with you and have the kids snap pictures of underwater life and identify the species in each picture.

  You can do something similar with coastal birds. Buy a pair of binoculars and encourage your kids to watch which birds they see as you approach land. Bring along a bird book so your kids can identify what they see, and ask them to keep a journal of each sighting.

• Test your knot tying skills

  How many marine knots do you know? You’ll find a handful of different knots used in different scenarios while yachting in East Cape. Teach kids how to do one or two knots at a time, adding a new knot as they become proficient. As skills grow, you can see who can tie a certain knot the fastest or challenge your kids to help the deckhands during berthing to put their skills to the test.

  Wondering which knots to start with? The cleat hitch, bowline knot, clove hitch, figure eight, and reef knot are good choices.

• Create a supply checklist

  When you’re at home, you make a running list of things you need to pick up at the store. The same is true while you’re sailing, but you won’t pass six grocery stores as you coast along the shore. Stops may be few and far between, and when you do stop, it’s important to get everything you need.

  Rather than taking on the job yourself, get the kids involved. Hand them a clipboard and a pencil, and have them follow you around the yacht making a checklist of supplies you need.

  Supplies will likely include food, pantry staples, hygiene products, and clothes, but don’t forget to check your emergency supplies too. Go through your “go bag” and make sure it has fresh batteries, protein bars, and first aid supplies, among other things. If you’re missing anything, add it to the list.

Most yachters add the Marina Village to their list of stops. This elegant marina is more than a port, you’ll find upscale restaurants and boutique shopping steps from the marina. It’s the perfect respite from the water as you embrace all the sights, sounds, and tastes the area has to offer. Learning doesn’t have to end just because you pulled into port. Many moments, on sea and land, can be teaching moments with the right mindset.