To make a boat in Minecraft, follow these steps:

1. Gather Wood Planks
   Collect any type of wood logs (except crimson and warped planks). Then, craft these logs into wood planks. You will need five planks of the same wood type for one boat

2. Open Crafting Table
   If you don't have one, craft a crafting table by placing four wood planks in your inventory crafting grid (2x2) and then place the table on the ground. Right-click it to open the 3x3 crafting grid

3. Arrange the Planks
   Place the five wood planks in a "U" shape in the crafting table grid:

   • Three planks across the bottom row
   • One plank in the middle-left cell
   • One plank in the middle-right cell
     This shape will craft one boat

4. Retrieve the Boat
   Drag the boat from the crafting output slot into your inventory.

5. Using the Boat
   Place the boat on water by right-clicking the water surface. Right-click the boat to get in, use movement keys to steer, and sneak key to exit

Additional Notes:

• Boats can be made from different wood types (oak, birch, spruce, jungle, acacia, dark oak), which changes their color

• You can also craft a boat with a chest by first crafting a chest and a boat separately, then combining them to get a boat with storage capacity

• Boats are affected by water currents and are useful for fast travel across water bodies

This is the simplest and most common way to make and use a boat in Minecraft.