Once equipped with buoyancy aids, helmets and paddles, teams are given a short time to design their raft. A selection of materials are at hand, plastic barrels, long poles, short poles and not forgetting the all important rope.

Once the marshals are happy with the design, the team begin their construction. The rafts must be big enough and strong enough to carry the team through a series of races, it must be able to manoeuvre through a slalom course and cruise at speed. The real test to any raft is time, how long will it last?

Raft Building focuses on group dynamics, communication skills and leadership. Kids love it! We present the group with the challenge of building rafts out of limited resources. They must work together on all stages from carrying their materials to designing, building and finally paddling their rafts. When rafts are built, the group paddles their rafts around a set course on a woodland lake. The hands-on section of the workshop is over when all rafts are completely disassembled and materials are placed neatly back where they were before we started. Then we debrief the experience, highlighting positive teamwork, and setting goals for improvement.