10 Awesome Airplane Crafts for Kids
Here are some awesome Airplane Crafts for Kids to celebrate Aviation History Month in November! Learn about airplanes & the people behind them!
Airplanes are amazing, aren’t they? You get on a plane from one place, and a few hours later you are hundreds of kilometers away! But did you know that initially, no one really cared?
It’s true! On 17th December 1903, when Orville and Wilbur Wright made their first-ever flight, less than 10 people showed up to watch. Even after the fact, most people thought the story that a man had flown was fake! Now that’s exactly why Aviation History Month is so important!
What is Aviation History Month?
Here’s a story about the Montgolfier brothers – Joseph-Michel Montgolfier and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier – who invented the hot air balloon.
One evening, Joseph was sitting in front of his fireplace and he noticed that the smoke from the fire was lifting the embers up. A bulb lit in his head, and he went on to build a box out of thin wood and covered it with a lightweight fabric. He lit some crumpled paper under the box and lo! The box floated up and hit the ceiling!
Since this experiment was conducted in November 1782, November has been chosen to observe as Aviation History Month. This is an opportunity to learn about the grand history of airplanes, and also make some fun airplane crafts for kids!
10 Awesome Airplane Crafts for Kids
1. Airplane Color by Number Printable
Way before the Wright brothers, in 1485, artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci made sketches for a flying machine that he called an ‘ornithopter’. Let’s try something simpler, with a color-by-number airplane printable for kids!
2. DIY Paper Plane Toy
It is believed that the Wright brothers were inspired to fly when their father gifted them a flying toy made of paper and bamboo. It was powered by a rubber band, but that was enough to spark the idea in the brothers’ minds! Now you can make your own toy plane, with this printable from Hello Wonderful!
3. DIY Foam Glider Airplane
Although the Wright brothers are credited with being the first humans to fly, there was a man who attempted the same, back in the 1860s. He was a German named Otto Lilienthal, who made a glider with wood and cotton. While it was able to fly, it was so weak that it crashed with Lilienthal in it, who died the next day. Now you can try making your own glider out of foam, with the instructions from Adventure in a Box.
4. Clothespin Airplanes
Despite the Wright brothers and Otto Lilienthal making the first flying machines, the title of the ‘Father of Aviation‘ goes to Sir George Cayley, an English inventor. He was the first person to conduct a thorough aerial investigation in a scientific manner and even the Wright brothers have acknowledged the importance of his contribution. See if you can discover anything new as you make airplane crafts for kids, like this one from One Little Project.
5. Paper and Craft Stick Airplanes
In all the airplane crafts for kids so far, we’ve only talked about aviation history in terms of men. It was in 1932 that Amelia Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. She was awarded multiple times and also launched the organization Ninety-Nines to support female pilots. There’s a lot to learn about Amelia Earhart, which you can do as you make this craft from Our Kid Things.
6. 3D Paper Airplane Craft
Amelia Earhart isn’t the only famous female pilot; a French woman named Raymonde de Laroche was the first woman in the whole world to become a pilot! Bessie Coleman was the first African-American female pilot and also the first African-American to receive an international pilot’s license. We think you can make some of these cute planes from Krokotak girls by adding some lashes to them!
7. Toilet Paper Roll Airplane Craft
Our list of airplane crafts for kids now features a toilet roll plane from Sunshine Whispers! You can call this a mini-Boeing, after the plane that was introduced in 1933, during what was called the ‘Golden Age of Flight’. Today, Boeing is one of the most well-known names in aviation!
8. Sponge Painted Airplane Art
If you’re looking for airplane crafts for kids for little kids, this one from Mrs.Plemons’ Kindergarten will work! As you make this, read about the various pilots who made long-distance flights years ago – French pilot Louis Blériot who flew across the English Channel, as well as British pilots John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown who completed the first nonstop transatlantic flight in 1919.
9. Plastic Bottle Airplane Craft
Recycled airplane crafts for kids are our favorite kind, which is why we love this plastic bottle plane from Mas and Pas! If you take care of it, it’ll last longer than a paper plane, much like the world’s longest-running airline – KLM, or Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij in Dutch.
10. Traveling Pilot and Plane Craft
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established National Aviation Day on August 19th, since it was the birthday of Orville Wright. However, since one day wasn’t enough to celebrate the amazing history of aviation, it was decided to have a whole month dedicated to it! Mark the beginning of this month by making this fun pilot craft from Canon Creative Park.
I hope these airplane crafts for kids have intrigued you and encouraged you to learn more about aviation history. This month will have lots of activities happening in this regard, so it’s a great time to increase your knowledge!
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