Kids Frugal Fun: National Aviation Day


Paper Towel Roll Airplane

2 Paper Towel Rolls
Craft Knife or Scissors (adult use)
Markers, Stickers, Paint (whatever you would like to decorate with)


1. Cut one paper towel roll all the way down the side. This will open the roll up.
2. Cut out a small rounded back wing and a larger rounded front wing.

3. Cut 4 slits on the other paper towel roll-2 on the sides at the top and 2 at the sides of the bottom.

4. Slide the smaller back wing into 2 of the slits and then the larger front wing in the other set of slits.

5. Decorate the plane the way your child would like.

Educational Activities:
1. Language Arts: 1. Airplane Nursery Rhyme-Reciting nursery rhymes and recognizing ryhming words are major kindergarten skills! You can make up your own to any tune you enjoy. The one we created is below. 2. ID alphabet letters while doing activity (P for plane, A for airplane, S for sky, etc). We did W for Will and for the Wright Brothers. 3. Have your child create a journal entry about the craft, writing or drawing steps in the process of creating it.
2. History: Discuss the concepts of past, present, and future. Identify that the Wright Brothers flew the first plane in the past, you created this craft in the present, and brainstorm about air travel in the future.
3. Math: 1. Have fun throwing the plane so that it can fly. Measure the distance it flies with rulers, tape measures, or using non-standard measurement using items like paper clips, crayons, etc. 2. Create patterns on your child’s plane. Will wanted windows on his plane for “the people to see out” so we added red and white circles. I had him alternate the colors and we discused it was a pattern ( called an AB pattern, red being “A” and white being “B”).
4. Science: 1. Remind your child that we need to take care of our planet and one way to do this is to reuse and recycle products. Discuss how you reused the paper towel rolls in this project. 2. Talk about the position to hold the plane when “flying” it and discuss the speed it flies and how hard your child throws it and where they throw it (up, down, right, left). Directional words is another big kindergarten skill.


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