How to Make a Plane for Kids

Planes are popular toys for many kids.

Children of all ages are often fascinated by airplanes, and from a young age many will have experimented making their own simple paper airplanes to fly. Making their own airplanes help children with their creative development, and they end up with a fun toy plane. For boys and girls who want to make their own planes, you can help them create this easy to make plastic bottle plane, with its own propeller, by using some everyday items.

Things You'll Need

• 2 liter plastic soda bottle
• 12-inch ruler
• 6-inch ruler
• Drinking straw
• Scissors
• Cardboard
• Colored straw
• Hammer
• Nail
• Paint
• Silver buttons
• Glue

Instructions

1. Wash the empty soda bottle, and remove any labels. Cut two horizontal slits in either side of the center of the bottle, large enough to push a ruler through.

2. Cut the wing shape from cardboard, using the 12-inch ruler as a template. Push the cut cardboard through the slits in the bottle to form the wings.

3. Cut two small slits at the rear of the bottle for the tail, large enough for a ruler to fit through. Cut out the wing tail from the cardboard, using the 6-inch ruler as a template. Push it through the slits, and your plane wings are now complete.

4. Remove the lid from the plastic bottle, and place the straw in the center of the lid to form the propellers. Carefully hammer in the nail over the straw until it is fastened to the lid. Screw the lid back onto the bottle, and you will now be able to spin the propellers.

5. Paint the plane however you like. Customize it by gluing on silver buttons to make windows.

Tips & Warnings

• If a young child is making this, you will need to supervise them as the craft involves using a nail, hammer, scissors, and glue.

• To make a smaller plane, you can use a 1 liter bottle and half the measurements for the wings and tail.

• If you don't have any colored straws for the propellers, you can use normal drinking straws wrapped and glued in silver foil.

References

• “Make it!”; Jane Bull; 2008