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ducks
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Bending Branches Twig. I have a longer response in the kids forum.
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Savage Voyageur
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Just get one of those short souvenir paddles they sell for your child to use. In reality they might put it in the water a few times then get tired or bored. What I did with my daughter was to use a wood burner and write in the dates and lakes we paddled, also a loon picture with pine trees.
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Porkeater
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pswith5: "I have some little paddles. Shoot me a message. With short arms they may not reach the water but that's not that important. "
Awesome!
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OCDave
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Decent paddle for a 4 year-old?
Your pride as a grandparent might be skewing your expectations but, I'd suggest looking at Badger Paddles. I have both a Tripper and a Sliver. I think Mike and Fiona make great paddles. They have lines for both Youth and "Cubs".
Badger Cub paddles
They are a Canadian business. I cannot keep up on day to day changes in the trade status across the border. If you cannot obtain directly from Badger Paddles, they do have a list of US retailers on their website who might have paddles in stock.
Alternatively, you might contact Greg at Fishell Paddles . He is also Canadian but has relocated to Flagstaff, AZ. They make a lot of paddles for kids summer camp so he might have something immeadiately available.
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andym
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We had trouble finding a paddle in Ely that was small enough for a rather small 5 year. He also wasn’t really ready to help (developmentally delayed) but really wanted his own paddle. We found one the right size at Zups grocery store. It was a souvenir paddle in a barrel near the checkouts. Perfect size and he loved it so much that he would take it swimming, in the canoe, and took it home with him.
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THEGrandRapids
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OCDave: "Decent paddle for a 4 year-old?
Your pride as a grandparent might be skewing your expectations
Here’s my take- and I bring my kids on many many outdoor adventures. Too many people fall into the trope that it’s too difficult need to take it easy. You can take it to the point you believe that specific child can go while still having a fulfilling experience. Expectations pkay into this- with that said….
You can control the things you can- gear, route, food- and you cannot control the things you can’t- weather, bugs, campsite selection (to a degree)
Get them an enjoyable paddle- even if it’s second hand used and you cut it down- but make it narrow and light and they will have a chance to enjoy an aspect you can control. Load them up with an adult paddle and all it becomes is extra weight.
Happy paddling!
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Twins87
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I will say it again... THIS IS THE BEST PLACE on the internet. Thankful to have stumbled upon this community more than a decade ago.
HUGE shoutout to pswith5 for lending us a 36 inch paddle and gifting us a shorter one. Our lovely little Miss P LOVED using the longer one to paddle. Or maybe she was ruddering/back paddling ;-) Her little sister will make great use of the shorter one next season!!! And we will be on the hunt for a 36+ inch paddle to purchase for use next season.
I didn't get great pics since I am the family photog AND was the one sitting with her in the bow. But boy did she have a ball. She didn't want to paddle back to the cabin but we finally convinced her it was time for a break.
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Twins87
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Anyone have suggestions where to get a decent paddle for a 4 year old? Our granddaughter is ready to help from the middle of the canoe. We didn’t take our kids until they were 13 & 9 so we have no idea where to find a small paddle. She loves being outdoors with Nana & Papa so I’m hoping we can find her a paddle for our early August Rockwood family cabin week.
(I also posted this in kids forum)
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THEGrandRapids
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I’ve made my own for the kids- when is your trip?
 
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Twins87
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THEGrandRapids: "I’ve made my own for the kids- when is your trip?
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Beautiful paddles! What a treasure for your kids
Our cabin week is in early August - I am not planning as far in advance as I should be! So I only have a couple of weeks.
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justpaddlin
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Grey Owl paddles sells the Owlet in 3 different lengths for kids.
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OldGuide2
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When our son was that old we just picked up an adult paddle and cut it down. Then you can mount a t-grip handle on it. We also shaved the edges a bit so it wasn’t so wide. You can find used paddles cheap on EBay, Craig’s, etc. I later built him a paddle from scratch. When I took out young kids, sometimes we would have them choke up on a paddle like on a baseball bat. It is a bit different paddling that way but was fine for a trip.
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Twins87
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Thanks everyone for suggestions! This place is full of great people. I am going to borrow a Twig from pswith5 to see what we think. She'll enjoy having it this year and we know it won't really be used for true paddling. But it'll give us a good sense of whether we want to purchase one in the coming seasons. Happy paddling all :-)
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Jim525
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I took a tip from this message board that if I was to go on a solo trip an emergency paddle should be brought along. Since it was just for emergencies I didn’t want to bring a second full size paddle ( I actually was using a kayak paddle) so I bought a telescoping paddle off Amazon. Several brands were available. It also fit in my backpack. My 5 and 6 year old grandson has used it a number of times with me albeit not in the boundary waters. It can be had for less than $20.00.
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pswith5
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I have some little paddles. Shoot me a message. With short arms they may not reach the water but that's not that important.
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Pinetree
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THEGrandRapids: "I’ve made my own for the kids- when is your trip?
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very nice,i don't think you want one with a lot of paddle surface, yours look just right.
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