Homemade Airplane

What You Need:

• Scissors
• Wire coat hanger
• Colored markers or crayons
• Tag board
• Fishing line
• Hot glue gun
• Tape
• Thumbtacks
• Pliers

What You Do:

1. Begin by helping your child take the wire coat hanger and curve the hook inward until she's created a closed circle.  This will be where the fishing line passes through, so do your best to make sure there isn't a gap.
2. Next, ask your child to trace the triangular shape of the lower part of the hanger onto the tag board.
3. Ask her to cut out two of these triangles and then affix them to both sides of the hanger, creating the body of the airplane.
4. Now, encourage her to cut out two wings for the airplane from the remaining tag board. Ask her to decide how long she wants each of the wings, making sure that they're in proportion to the rest of the plane.
5. Carefully helping your child with the hot glue, attach the wings onto the opposite sides of the airplane's body.
6. Allow your child to then use the markers or crayons to color and decorate the outside of her plane. You might suggest that she draws windows alongside the plane where pilots and passengers can be seen.
7. Once she's finished with the design of her plane, take the length of fishing line and tie a small loop on both ends. The length of the line will depend on how far you want the plane to follow the zip line, but make sure it's long enough to reach two different walls. Help her push a thumbtack through one of the loops at the end of the fishing line and into a wall.
8. Now, help your child to pass the fishing line through the top of the coat hanger through the circle made by the hook. Then, attach the other end of the fishing line into a wall on the opposite side of the room.
9. The zip line is ready to go! Demonstrate how it works to your child by guiding the plane to one end of the fishing line, and then helping her push it forward. The momentum will take it to the other end of the room.

Your child will love making her plane fly, and it's a fun lesson in aerodynamics at the same time!