Airplane Craft | Activities

Get your kiddo flying up in the clouds with this fun activity!

This is the perfect activity for your child to get creative and have lots of independence. Using toilet paper or paper towel rolls, children will use paint, popsicle sticks and paper to construct a miniature airplane. Once constructed, these airplanes are excellent teaching tools to keep your child’s attention as you teach them all about how airplanes and travelling works!

📚 Books to explore: Amazing Airplanes by Tony Mitton and Ant Parker, The Little Airplane by Lois Lenski, and Ultimate Book of Airplanes and Airports by Sophie Bordet-Petillon.

🧭 Go on an adventure! Get outside for a walk and see if you can spot an airplane flying by.

🧑‍✈️ Explore your imagination. Extend this activity by having your child pretend to be a pilot, security officer or any other air travel professional. You can even have them dress up!

Materials

For this activity you will need:

Toilet paper tube

Paint

Paint brush

Scissors

Popsicle sticks

Glue

Blue construction paper

Learning Outcomes

Domain

Cognition

Skills

Self-regulation

Indicators:

Monitoring own behavior

Instructions

Step 1:

Set up a safe space for painting.

Step 2:

Using a paint brush and paint, have the child paint the toilet paper tube. Set aside to dry.

Step 3:

Paint 3 popsicle sticks. Set aside to dry.

Step 4:

While everything is drying, cut 6 circles out of the blue construction paper for your windows.

Step 5:

Once the tube is dry, glue the windows on — 3 per side.

Step 6:

Cut a slit towards the back of the tube on either side. Stick 2 popsicle sticks in to form your wings.

Step 7:

On the opposite side of the tube, cut 1 slit into the tube to put the tail stabilizer into. If the stick is too tall, use your scissors to cut it a bit shorter.

⬆️ For older preschoolers: If you are confident to let your preschooler assemble everything then let them use the scissors and create the whole airplane. They also can make a cone nose using construction paper.

⬇️ For younger toddlers: They will need some help but are still able to create their own airplane. Use hand-over-hand for the more difficult parts, especially where scissors are involved.