Making and “flying” paper airplanes is not only a fun activity for kids, but it also offers other benefits as well. It will show your kids they can make a cool plane with a piece of paper – no need to run to the toy store! Working with paper airplanes can also get your kids interested in science and aerodynamics. They can experiment with their designs to make their planes go faster or farther or higher.
The great thing about having a family paper airplane session is that you can do it indoors or outside. Throw them down long hallways or from the top of a slide. They are very easy to take wherever you go, and they are a very cheap way to spend some happy times with your family.
Here are some games and activities to do with paper airplanes from the kidsactivities website.
• Paper Airplane Races – Everyone designs and makes their plane and then the races begin! Set up a starting line and a finish line. When you say “Go” all the participants throw their planes to see which one crosses the finish line first.
• Hit Your Target – This game is more about accuracy than speed. Set up some targets such as action figures, boxes, or anything else that would work. Each target has a number value with the higher values going to the smaller targets. Everyone has five chances to accumulate points by throwing their plane at the targets. Highest score wins!
• Distance Throw – Each participant has a chance to throw their plane from the starting line to see whose plane can travel the longest distance.
• Airborne – I love this game! The object is to design a plane that can stay in the air the longest. After designing your planes, take turns throwing them and timing how long each plane stayed in the air.
• Ring Throw – You will need some hula hoops to set up like a golf course along with your paper airplanes for this activity. The goal of the game is to throw your plane through a series of hoops with each player taking turns to throw their plane at the target. The first player will throw at the first hoop. If they don’t make it through the hoop, they leave their plane where it landed, and the next player will then try to fly through the hoop. When it’s the first player’s turn again, he will throw from where his plane landed on the first throw and so on just like golf.
• Plane catch – This is an outdoor game. The players need to be split into groups of two. When the game starts, each team will throw their plane to their partner. If the partner catches it, they will get one point; if not, they will just pick up the plane. This continues for five minutes. The winning team will be the team that had the most catches.
• Perfect landing – Build a landing strip with chalk or duct tape that is about 40 feet long and 8 feet wide. Split the strip into 5 segments for scoring with the closest segment having the lowest value. One at a time, each player will try to land their plane on the strip. After everyone has had 5 turns, calculate the scores and declare the winner!
I know you and your family will have so much fun with these activities! Click here to find all the details.
– Becky Lynn is a writer for EllisDownHome.com. She and her husband, Bob enjoy spending time with their 8 grandchildren and traveling. Becky loves cranking up the music and heading to the kitchen to try out new recipes or cook for an upcoming party. She is passionate about continuing to be a life-long learner!
