Airplane Launcher Craft

We've been studying all things transportation this month in our 

Mother Goose Time preschool curriculum, and today was AIRPLANES!

I have to admit, when I first saw this Airplane Launcher Make and Play craft, I really wanted to skip it.  It just looked like a little more work for me than my preschooler, but we went ahead and dived in and I am SOOOO glad we did! 

Check out our video...

Here's what you need:

 paper, scissors, tape, straw, and stickers (optional)

We made 2 airplanes so double the materials.  I did fold one sheet of paper in half and drew 2 parallel lines for my daughter to cut.  These became the wings for our planes. 

This activity was great for fine motor skills (cutting, peeling and placing stickers) and gross motor skills as she chased her airplane later.  

After making the wings with one sheet of paper, we rolled the second sheet into a tube and taped it down.  Then you fold one end on the tube and tape it down.  Now there is an opening for your straw to go through to help you launch your plane!   But first you have to pretend to make them fly like my girl did below ;) 

Now the super fun!  MGT sent us a numbered runway, but you could put any type of marker placement on the floor- numbered tape, little cards with numbers, or even use a numbers from a deck of cards!  Ask your kiddo to make a prediction about where their plane will land, and then place your straw into the tube.  You now have an airplane launcher ready to be blown!

5...4...3...2...1...launch!

(blow into your straw)

Was your prediction right?  Did it go further or not as far as you thought?  What could you do to make it land on the number you guessed?  Let's do it again!  Let's predict where it'll go this time.

My girl played and played and played some more with this.

She is so excited about it and already mentioned telling Daddy as soon as he gets home.

I'm glad I didn't skip this one.  I hope you don't skip it either!