Rubber Ducks
C/S/A complete 12
Junior: Complete 10
Brownie/ Daisy: Complete 8
Rubber ducks date back to the early 19th century and were originally intended to be used as chew toys
- In 1940 The rubber duck was patented and reproduced as a floating toy.
As of today, how many of the now iconic yellow and orange rubber ducks have been sold?
- Though we still call them rubber ducks, what is our feather friend actually made of?
- In 1970 all it took was 1 “Muppet” and 1 song to make the rubber duck the #1 bath toy in the world. Name that “Muppet” and that song *Bonus points if you stand and sing the song to your group*
- There has been rumor that Queen Elizabeth II has her own rubber duck complete with a crown. If you could design a rubber duck to look like you, what would it look like?
- Every year, around the world, rubber duck races are held. Called Rubber Duck Regattas these races are serious business. Canada has two major yearly races: one in Saskatoon and one in Halifax. In Australia, an annual race is held in Brisbane to raise funds for the PA Research Foundations. England holds the record for the biggest rubber duck race held, with 250,000 floating toys.
Together with your group do some research on the rules and host your own Rubber Duck Regatta
- Rubber ducks once unknowingly aided in scientific research.In the middle of a raging storm in 1992, a cargo ship carrying a huge assortment of vinyl toys tipped over. Descending into the Pacific were nearly 29,000 tub playthings, including thousands of rubber ducks. Bobbing and drifting, the tiny ducks took weeks, months, and years to wash ashore in Hawaii, Maine, Seattle, and other far-flung locations. Their journeys were able to tell oceanographers crucial information about waves, currents, and seasonal changes.
Together with your group locate a map of the ducks travels and share the story with family and friends.
- January 13th is National Rubber Ducky Day. How would you like to celebrate?
- Rubber Ducks were inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame in 2013. Where is the toy hall of fame located? If it’s in an area near you plan a visit. If you can’t plan a visit you can find more information and see a few of the inductees at www.toyhalloffame.org
- The world’s largest rubber duck is named Mama Duck. She is 62 feet tall and weighs nearly 15 tons.Visit www. Thebigduck.us to see places she’s been and her upcoming appearances. If she’ll be a in an area near you, plan a visit.
- Do have or have you ever wanted to start a rubber duck collection? The largest private collection of rubber duck is held by Charlotte Lee. She has collected 5,631 rubber ducks as of April 2011.
If you have already started a collection, share your favorite duck with your group. Explain where the duck came from and why it is special to you.
If you have not yet started a collection, think about if your collection will have a theme and make a list of ducks you’d like to find and collect.
- Rubber Ducking is often used in software engineering to debug code. It is said that a programmer would carry around a rubber duck and debug their code by forcing themselves to explain it, line-by-line, to the duck. Thus actively finding the solution to their problems simply by saying them out loud.
Try the rubber duck method. Carry a duck with you or stick him in place that you will see him often. Your desk where you do homework, your locker, your car. Talk to your duck. Did explaining your problems to your duck out loud help you to find solutions? Why or why not?
- Together with your group create a rubber duck scavenger hunt for a younger group.
