DIY Toy: Paper Helicopter

Here’s a quick and easy DIY toy to make today:  Paper Helicopters! I was initially inspired to make these after seeing them in The Best of Making Things. I also found this great tutorial on the Exploratorium’s website. If you haven’t checked out their site before it’s got some wonderful ideas.

Here’s how to make these fun little guys:

Paper Helicopter

Materials

• Construction paper or card stock
• Paper clips
• Tape
• Cutting board
• Exacto knife
• Template see below

Template:  At first I was a little concerned that most of the templates I found for paper helicopters did not include measurements. Then we started experimenting with making them different sizes and the fun really began. We actually found that the bigger they were the better they flew. A 2″ by 8″ piece of paper was just right. Here are the proportions we used, you can increase or decrease them as desired. Cut along all solid lines. Fold along dotted lines as shown in the next steps. You may want to lightly score the dotted lines to make folding easier.

Instructions

• Step One Cut your paper and draw template.
• Step Two Fold section D along long dotted line
• Step Three Fold Section C along long dotted line
• Step Four Fold Section A along dotted line towards you
• Step Five Fold Section B along dotted line away from you
• Step Six Fold bottom edge of section C/D towards you
• Step Seven Tape folded end of C/D I couldn’t resist adding a little flair with some decorative tape by Kid Made Modern
• Step Eight Add a paper clip to the taped end

You’re done! Take them outside and throw them like you would throw a ball or paper airplane. They should spin like a helicopter to the ground!  If you have a two story space you can also drop them down and watch them spin.

My kids enjoyed playing with them but once I got my camera out my son got into all the “action” shots I was taking. You really don’t need to throw them that hard!

Don’t forget to try making them in different sizes; that’s part of the fun!

Tagged as: CRAFTS, DIY, diy toys, EDUCATION, kids activities, PARENTING, PRESCHOOL ACTIVITIES, PRESCHOOL SCIENCE, SCIENCE ACTIVITIES, SCIENCE PROJECTS FOR KIDS