Day 3 - Paper Airplanes

LeeAnn has loved the sky from the moment she could see it. We have taken her to the local airport and allowed her to sit and watch the planes while laughing in delight. So when we introduced her to paper airplanes it was no surprise she loved them. Today we tried out several different paper airplane designs to find the best.

The first paper was not made by man, but in fact wasp. Chewed bits of wood pulp mixed with their saliva to form the paper of their gray nest we all try to avoid. The Chinese were the first humans to make paper in 105 AD. As to the first paper airplane, every site I checked has its own theory. So I will leave the question to you? I personally feel man has always yearned to touch the sky and has probably been tossing folded paper toward it since they first had papyrus.

My excited toddler helped pick out colorful pages to make our planes while I pulled up the instructions. With extra pages for her to crumple and fold, we worked together on several planes from www.10paperairplanes.com. In fact this website does such an excellent job explaining how to make each plane that I’ve decided to cut the how to and simply rate the planes. (I promise this will not be a habit)



On this rainy afternoon, it was really a beautiful sight to see the air of my living room filled with colorful planes gently gliding across the ceiling. The Arrow and the Dart were by far the most superior gliders. They were easiest for LeeAnn to throw and flew straightest and farthest. They are also easiest to make. The kite, the moth and the bat seemed to simple fall from her hands and fall to the ground. I really liked the ring, but it was tricky to throw and had a knack for ending up behind furniture. In her excitement and joy my daughter even tried to fly her crumpled paper. She decided the rolled papers worked better than the asymmetrical crumpled sheets (it’s so cool to see her figuring things out on her own like that)!

Top Left to Right: the Arrow, the Dart, the Moth, a modified Dart, My daughters attempts
Bottom Left to Right: the Ring, the Bat, the Kite, and more of my daughter attempts