wooden clogs.

Yes, sounds weird but you can make a boat out of those. Just add a mast and add sails. It will be a cheap way to play as it floats and is actually pretty fun to see it sail off with a gentle breeze.

Just won't see that these days as kids gets a mobile phone or ipad in front of their face at age 3-4 already in order to keep them quiet so lazy parents can do other things.