Being captivated by airplanes is universal among kids. Even to some adults—despite knowing the science behind the flight, one can’t help but be amazed at seeing a massive vehicle, capable of carrying hundreds of people, leave the ground and stay in the air.
This fascination can be a great springboard for introducing preschoolers to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). If you want to help your child engage further with STEM learning or simply encourage their aspiration in aviation, these airplane crafts are the way to go!
Great Airplane Crafts for Preschool
From stick planes to paper airplane crafts that fly, you are sure to find something on our list of the best airplane crafts for preschool that suits you and your little budding pilot.
If your little one is the type who likes to do crafts themselves, then this quick and easy popsicle stick airplane will send them jumping with excitement. For materials, you’ll need no more than the following:
- 2 large colored popsicle sticks
- 1 smaller and shorter colored popsicle stick
- Hot glue
- Black marker
Have your kid simply glue together the two larger-sized intersecting popsicle sticks to make the airplane body and its wings. Take the smaller stick next and attach it as the elevators at the bottom end of the plane. Now let those little hands be creative in designing their own stick plane craft!
For some helpful gluing tips, just click over to ArtCraftAndFun!
Clothespins are not only for hanging clothes – they make a great airplane body too! Pick a few from your laundry and while you’re at it, see if you also have a few foam craft sticks at hand (which we bet you do!) to use as your airplane’s wings and elevator.
As simple as the popsicle stick plane craft above – only it has more dimension – kids can put this together by themselves in just two simple steps: cut and glue. Foam sticks are extremely easy to cut, but for kids with fine motor challenges, adults can help out a little with shaping and cutting out smaller parts of this cute airplane craft.
For precise instructions and useful tips, visit its creator, DIYInspired! And in case you need a recap, here’s the complete list of materials needed:
- Clothespins
- Foam craft sticks
- School glue or hot glue
- Scissors
The simpler the better in this craft that benefits preschoolers in two ways: learning about airplanes while learning the first letter of the alphabet! TheKindergartenConnection shows you in detail how you (or your child by themselves) can create an amazing airplane with an uppercase letter A using only these common craft items:
- Construction paper
- Scissors
- Glue sticks
Although putting together this letter craft involves only cutting and gluing, a little bit of grown-up help might be needed in cutting out figure-8 shapes for your airplane’s propellers, and triangles with one rounder corner for the wings. With the supplied shapes and glue sticks, encourage kids to build their airplane however they visualize it while keeping the letter properly oriented.
Get messy for an airplane craft this cute and easy! For this excellent fine motor boosting activity from MomJunction, you’re all set with just one item:
- Clay or play dough of various colors
Adults have nothing much to do here more than guiding the kids on shaping the clay to make parts of the airplane, namely a pair of wings, mid-wing, vertical stabilizer/rudder, and horizontal stabilizers/elevators. From there, kids can definitely assemble their plane in a snap, with or without a picture guide.
Despite its simplicity, molding clay brings many educational benefits to toddlers and preschoolers. Kneading, rolling, and shaping not only strengthen their hands but also improve their hand-eye coordination, dexterity, and attention span. Most importantly, it’s fun and therapeutic!
If you’re too squeezed for time to run to the store to buy special craft supplies, you’d get along with this easy to do toilet paper roll airplane craft. Although it seems like a lot is going on, it is pretty straightforward once you read over the instructions from ConservaMome– who is also generous enough to provide a free template to save you time drawing smaller parts of your airplane.
For this project, you’ll need:
- Toilet paper tube (per plane)
- Black, white, and various colored papers
- Pipe cleaner
- Scissors
- Glue
- Tape
- Printable template
Kids will love that this airplane model has bendable wheels that they can play with like it’s a real airplane on the runway ready for take off. This also makes a great display for the room of your little budding pilot!
Hold up on throwing away those plastic bottles you have lying around your home and turn them into awesome airplanes that will definitely be a hit with kids. They are super easy to do and cool to look at too. You also probably already have all the supplies you need, so making them is going to cost you next to nothing.
You will need:
- Plastic bottle
- Card
- Scissors
- Pen
- Duck tape
- Glue gun
Its rotating propeller stands out among other airplane crafts, making it not only fun for kids to play with at home, but also great for an airplane-themed unit study. And if you’re being super practical, simply cut a slit in the top and turn it into a piggy bank! Over at Mas&Pas, they have detailed instructions and photos to help you put this together easier.
This paper plane craft will make everyone’s heart soar. Constructed entirely from just different-sized paper hearts, you can quickly finish a big batch of this to give away to the whole class or you can also make this a Valentine’s Day craft project for preschoolers. This is quite straightforward and kids will certainly have no trouble following along.
For this, all you need is:
- Construction paper
- Scissors
- Glue
- Marker (optional)
Basically, it’s made up of eight thin heart shape cutouts of various sizes glued together. You can easily make great-looking hearts by folding your paper in half and cutting half a shape. But if you’re not quite confident and want it to be perfect, BusyBeeKidsCraft has a useful template you can simply print out. Once done, have kids write Valentine’s message (or a doodle will do) for their family or friends.
Perhaps you belong to a crafty family who loves all kinds of keepsake crafts and have been waiting for anything handprint or footprint idea to come up on the list– well, here it is! GluedToMyCrafts made this footprint airplane craft a bit special by using a canvas instead of the usual paper plate or ordinary paper. Beyond that, the rest of the supplies you’ll need are usual crafts items you probably already have.
With a pencil, begin by marking the canvas where you want your airplane to be. Then make the plane wings by pressing your kid’s painted foot one after another, with their heels facing toward the plane’s body. From there, paint the body in between the two footprints and other features of the plane to finish off your art
This makes an excellent house decor or a gift to your little pilot wannabe. For future reference, you might want to save this complete list of the materials you’ll need for this project:
- Large blank canvas (any size or shape you like)
- Paint brushes
- Craft paints
- Pencil/eraser (optional)
What else could delight your little airplane enthusiasts more than creating a plane craft that flies? Although massive in size, this airplane craft would only cost you a little more than a dollar for the following materials:
- Poster board from a dollar store
- Clear packing tape
- Stickers
Aside from being inexpensive, this giant airplane craft is also quite simple and easy to do. Just fold the poster board the same way you would a regular-sized paper airplane. Small hands might need some assistance with folding, but after that, you can leave the designing of the giant paper airplane up to their creative minds.
Once ready, take the plane outside and watch the kids have a blast watching it fly, glide, and crash– all while exercising their minds and bodies.
For tips and other preschool craft inspiration, visit FirefliesAndMudpies.
Here’s another airplane craft for quick and easy flying fun. Despite how basic—or maybe weird to be called an airplane— these straw and paper airplane crafts fly surprisingly well. To make this, you’ll only need the following materials:
- Light card stock and/or regular paper
- Straw
- Scissors
- Tape
Cut two strips of light card or paper to the length and width you desire. Tape your strips to turn them into two hoops – one large and one small. Tape the loops to each end of the straw, and you’re done!
This awesome craft just takes minutes to make and at least an hour of fun and learning. As you play with it, you can stimulate your kids’ curiosity even further by experimenting with different sizes to see which flies the farthest.
For precise instructions and helpful tips, click over to MudPaperScissors.
ConclusionÂ
Kids are natural explorers and wherever their curiosity takes them—be it land or sky and the amazing airplanes that conquer it—it is crucial for parents or teachers to support them throughout the learning process.
Although nothing beats actually flying in an airplane, you can still entertain and inspire young aviators through making the featured airplane crafts for preschool.
Have fun building planes and return here for more in the future!
For more fun preschool crafts and activities, check these out.
