Air Transportation Crafts for Kids
- Make crafts based on airplanes with kids.airplanes image by Evgenij Gorbunov from Fotolia.com
From the Wright Brothers' historic first flight in 1903 to hot air balloons, air transportation is fascinating to kids. Teach your child about different modes of air transportation and enhance their fine motor skills such as cutting with air transportation crafts. Follow up air transportation craft activities with a trip to a local aviation museum or throw a classroom air transportation celebration with the completed arts and crafts as decorations. - Crafting paper airplanes not only teaches children about the aerodynamics of planes but also serves as an inexpensive toy that can entertain them for hours.
Children decorate each side of a sheet of white paper with a set of contrasting colors, such as red and green, yellow and blue or orange and purple. Using contrasting colors highlights the top and bottom side of the paper airplane. They then create the paper airplane by folding the colorful paper in half lengthwise and then folding in one end of the corners to create a point. To complete the craft, the children refold the paper in half and form the plane's wings by folding the sides down. - Hot air balloons might not be the fastest form of air transportation, but many enjoy taking a leisurely ride enjoying the scenery.
Children create a hot air balloon collage by using colorful construction paper along with old magazines. By cutting out images of trees, mountains or other landscapes and gluing them on a sheet of blue construction paper, children create a backdrop for the hot air balloon. To create the hot air balloon, children cut out a circle of construction paper and a basket for the hot air balloon out of brown construction paper and glue it to the background. To connect the hot air balloon to the basket, children glue pieces of string between the basket and the hot air balloon. - Helicopters use fast spinning blades to fly through the air and, unlike planes, can hover in one area. Helicopters can take off and land vertically making them perfect for congested or small locations where a plane couldn't take off or land. Making helicopters with kids teaches them about helicopter's unique construction.
Children paint individual egg cups with tempera paint. The egg cups represent the base of the helicopter. Turning the painted egg cup over so the opening is the helicopter's base, children then gently press a pipe cleaner through the top of the eggshell cup to make the blades. By adding additional pipe cleaners and bending them, children create additional blades of the helicopter. - Not just a tasty treat, an edible airplane also teaches kids about different parts of a plane. All you need is a stick of gum, a package of small wrapped tubes of candies such as Smarties, two hard candies with center holes such as Lifesavers and a rubber band. Children place the Smarties candies in position as the base to the plane and the stick of gum for the wings. By looping the rubber band around the Smarties and the gum, the children have secured the base of the plane. Children attach the wheels by looping the rubber band through the Lifesavers on either side of the Smarties candies.
