We have two kids (3yr & 5yr). Both like to "help" paddle. We'd like them to be side-by-side. What have any of you used to prop them up high enough to help without being up too high to hang over the gunnels excessively? Are there any wide drop-in seats out there?

What kind of boat?

I seat them side by side on a 3rd webbed seat... but a nice padded pack (filled with sleeping bags/clothing and tent) works too.

We have the same canoe as BWPaddler and it came with a 3rd webbed seat. It works great and our kiddos also love to help paddle. Even if they are paddling backwards sometimes :)

When we were looking at canoes we looked at drop in seats etc. in case we ended up buying a tandem canoe. We weren't able find anything that would be wide enough for the kiddos to sit side by side.

You may need to install a 3rd seat in order to have something wide enough for them. Ours has wing nuts so it is very quick/easy to remove the 3rd seat from the brackets for when my wife and I paddle tandem.

I think a lot of people do the pack method successfully. Last year when our kids were 3 and 5 we did our paddling with both kids on day trips so we wanted a seat since we wouldn't have loaded packs with us.

Pics of our kids paddling last year.

We've thrown our kids on top of packs too. Our friends just set their kids on padded boat cushions (kind with bottom and backrest). However, that might not get them high enough to paddle.

Below are our kids as well as kids of our friends. At one point we had 5 in our canoe (daytripping). They fit on regular webbed seats doubled up just fine. Ages 5-9. In these pictures we had rented a canoe that had a third seat.

ducks- I like those mini paddles.

quote paddlefamily: "ducks- I like those mini paddles. "

Thanks, they were a life saver. Grandma and grandpa had them just sitting around in their garage. We needed "something" after the first time out when they were both crawling around the canoe, climbing on mom in the bow, trying to take our paddles. Since giving them their own paddles they haven't left their seat. I think we need to get one of the BB Twigs for our oldest one now. She has outgrown the mini.

I like all the pics - woo hoo for paddlin' kiddos!

Thanks for the ideas. I think we just might rent a three seater on our first overnight family trip instead of trying to make our two seater work out. I've heard the souris river quetico 18.5 is pretty kid friendly. Anyone have any experience with kids in a MN3?

quote Woodtick: "Thanks for the ideas. I think we just might rent a three seater on our first overnight family trip instead of trying to make our two seater work out. I've heard the souris river quetico 18.5 is pretty kid friendly. Anyone have any experience with kids in a MN3?"

Regarding the MN3- We've used it. It worked great. I don't know how active your 3 year old is, but we were on smaller lakes and we felt alright about having two of our kids together in the middle. Kinda depends on the kid. Our other child was 6 at the time. If the lake gets too choppy (or the 3 year old is too wiggly) you can always wedge him/her between your legs in the stern on a pad.

Your trip coming up soon? Are you basecamping?

we own a mn 3 and do all our BWCA trips with it.. 3 kids age 7, 5 and 2 and a dog along with 5 packs

I think I have found a drop-in seat wide enough for my kids. Has anyone tried this seat before? Not too cheap for just a piece of plastic though.

Snap-In Seat

No experience w/ that seat but it looks like it would be the ticket for you. It does seem spendy for a piece of plastic but it would be less than 2 or more days of renting a 3 seat canoe and you would have it whenever you need it for taking the kiddos out in the canoe.

My concerns if I was looking at buying it would be about portaging but with kids that young you may not be portaging much anyways. I wonder if it's so heavy it would throw of the balance while portaging and how well does it snap in so would it stay attached or fall off when you flip the canoe over to portage?