I have been pleasantly surprised at how much fun my boys have been having making up paper airplane games lately. I love these kind of old school, quick indoor activities that kids of all ages (even those who need a little help with the folding) can enjoy. In fact, making and flying paper airplanes has been such a runaway hit in our home I thought I'd share with you 3 of the landing strips they invented to enhance their play.
It's kind of amazing how the normally squabbling brothers have been cooperating, organizing flying experiments and scientific comparisons, and most impressive to me, they have been getting creative with landing strips. (Note: this post contains affiliate links that earn from qualifying purchases.)
I last wrote about paper airplanes when I describes what a perfect play date activity it was for my older son and our downstairs neighbor. This past snow day the two of them made a few more from the fantastic Klutz Book of Paper Airplanes, which has superior instructions and trouble-shooting advice, BUT what has really gotten my two sons to have brotherly bonding time has been our Paper Airplane Fold-a-Day Calendar!!
Every morning we fold the airplane of the day (we are going to have quite the collection by the end of the year) and give it a test drive before leaving for school. Then, almost every evening a big chunk of time is spent flying the new plane against the previous ones.
If your kids are paper airplane nerds like mine, encourage them to make a landing strip.
Here is their butcher paper landing strip. If you don't have a big roll of paper, you need to get one! It comes in handy for so many activities! My older son wanted to put point values in the circles, but I have banned all competitive games for the time being because "friendly brotherly competition" always ends in screaming.
Blocks. (Kiddo used our Twig blocks) Gather up your blocks or LEGO bricks and design a fancy landing strip for your paper airplane games. I believe the stack of blocks is meant to be an airport control tower!
Use tape directly on the floor. I've never had trouble removing painter's tape, but I don't recommend using regular masking tape.
No doubt your own kids can come up with their own unique version! Do your kids love paper airplanes?
Curious about our elaborate planes? The Klutz Book of Paper Airplanes is our all time favorite!
See our previous indoor activity posts in this series:
- Pen and paper game: Dots and Boxes
- Active indoor game: Land, Sea and Air
- Indoor activities for tweens
Or check out our (recently re-organized!) gigantic list of indoor activities for kids, ages toddler to tween.
Meeghan says
Love these ideas! I also love the idea of a paper airplane calendar..I know I will be purchasing for next year!!
Emma Edwards (Adventures of Adam) says
Super ideas! Looking forward to when my son is a little older to get creative with plays too.
Ana says
I love this post! And the Twig blocks are making me drool....
Amy @ Sunlit Pages says
Erica, I love these ideas! My 6-year-old is currently obsessed with paper airplanes (he got the Klutz paper airplane book for Christmas and even used paper airplanes for his science fair project!). He will love these landing strips (although it will, unfortunately, give him an excuse to make MORE airplanes, and our house is already overrun with them!).
Erica MomandKiddo says
I set up a bucket as an "airport". That *sort of* helps with clean up. Ha ha.
Jennifer says
I'm loving the simple and easy paper plane challenge - what a great idea! My daughter's current long-term project involves constant purchasing of supplies and can be a bit of a challenge in coordinating, so I love the simplicity of this - one time low-cost purchase, simple and relaxing activity that builds other skills sets, and that emphasis on family collaboration and ritual.
Emma says
Those are some pretty cool paper airplanes - I had no idea there even were paper airplane calendars, lol! Love these landing strip ideas - pinning!
Erica MomandKiddo says
Thank you!