A is for Airplane

• Book: Fly by Nathan Clement
• Learn about the process of flying in an airplane!

• Visit an Airport
1. If you have an airport close by, go as close to the runway as you can and watch the planes.
2. Track the airplanes you see – Big, Medium, Small airplanes; White, Red, Black airplanes; etc.
3. Read more airplane books while you wait for them!

• Make paper airplanes!
• Usborne has a book “100 More Paper Planes to Fold and Fly”. Spend some time learning how to fold different types of airplanes, then fly them!

• Airplane Graphing
1. Do this graphing activity using different colored airplanes (like THESE that we used).
2. On a simple piece of graph paper, write an A next to each row (or column, however you are graphing) in the color of each different colored airplane.
3. Pick a specific spot you are aiming at (a chair, pillow, person, etc) and help your preschooler throw each airplane at that object.
4. The airplane that is the closest wins, put an A in their row.

Click HERE for a lot more A is for Airplane preschool ideas on our blog!

A is for Airplane

• Read “My First Airplane Ride” by Patricia Hubbell

 

• Make a Simple Airplane … a cute and simple craft from Parents.com. My kids LOVED these. They played with them all morning. And with the hot glue, they were almost indestructible!
  1. For each airplane, paint one clothespin, 2 popsicle sticks and 1 mini popsicle stick.
  2. Let dry. (We just colored the pieces with crayons so we didn’t have to wait for them to dry!)
  3. Glue one wing to the top and one to the bottom of the clothespin.
     • NOTE: I like to use hot glue because it dries quickly and is strong. If you want the kids to use regular glue, it may have to dry overnight.
  4. Glue the mini craft stick to the back of the clothespin.
  5. Cut a small tail wing from foam craft paper and glue on.
• Airplane Game
  1. Give each of the kids a small airplane (or use the one you made above.)
  2. Give them spatial commands to follow:
  • Stand beside your airplane
  • Jump over your airplane
  • Fly your airplane over the chair
  • Stand under the airplane
  • Sit near your airplane
  • Do a rocket blast in front of your airplane
  • Stand behind your airplane

• Airplane Banner
  1. I love printing out this airplane alphabet banner from www.funlessonplans.com
  2. Let the kids color it and trace the dot letters.
  3. Great tracing, letter writing and cutting practice.

• Airplane Music Game
  1. Let the kid use their little airplanes for this game (or just put your arms out like wings)
  2. Play flying music (any music you like or use this Airplane Song by Barney) and have the kids fly around the room.
  3. Stop the music and have them “land”
     1. OPTIONAL: place large letters around the room (A, B and C). When the music stops, ask them to land at “Airport A” or “Airport B”
  4. Start the music and take off again.
• ‘A’ Paper Airplanes
  1. Have the kids write the letter A all over a piece of paper.
  2. Help them fold the paper into a paper airplane and fly their letter A airplanes!

• Fly Foam Airplanes … I found these great foam airplanes at Dollar Tree last week! My boys played with them all afternoon trying the wings and tail wing in different positions. They have held up to pretty intense boy play I’m pretty impressed for $1.00.
• Visit the Airport
  1. We just have a small local airport, but the kids love visiting to see the little airplanes.
  2. Bring a picnic lunch & enjoy watching the planes fly in and out!

 

• Airplane Snack Ideas
  1. Candy Airplanes … these are fun to put together and yummy to eat. Click the picture for a link to this version from familyfun.com
  2. I let the kids pick out a candy, so we went with Rolos. Maybe a little overkill I’d stick with smarties next time!

  

  1. Edible Airplanes … a healthier version of the candy airplanes
     • Use a piece of celery generously filled with peanut butter for the airplane fuselage (body).
     • Skewer a toothpick through the celery and poke a sliced carrot or grape on each side for wheels.
     • Place a rectangle graham cracker on top (the peanut butter should hold it in place) to make the wings!

Airplanes

 

• Airplane Banner
  1. I love printing out this airplane alphabet banner from www.funlessonplans.com
  2. Let the kids color it and trace the dot letters.
  3. Great tracing, letter writing and cutting practice.
• Visit a local airport and watch the airplanes. We just have a small airport in our town, but the kids love getting up close to the planes and if we’re lucky we can see one take off or land.
• Fold paper airplanes and fly them! Click here for instructions on how to fold them.
• Get a simple balsa wood airplane (I’ve seen them for $1.00 at Michaels craft store or you can find them here), help the kids follow the instructions and fly them!

Treat Idea: Candy Airplanes … these are fun to put together and yummy to eat. Click the picture for a link to this version from familyfun.com

Snack Idea: Edible Airplanes … a healthier version of the candy airplanes

1. Use a piece of celery generously filled with peanut butter for the airplane body.
2. Skewer a toothpick through the celery and poke a sliced carrot or grape on each side for wheels.
3. Place a rectangle graham cracker on top (the peanut butter should hold it in place) to make the wings!