AMAZING AIRPLANES

AIRPLANE PICTURES
Give each of your children a small airplane shape cut from any color of paper to decorate as desired. Invite them to glue their planes onto pieces of blue paper. To complete their pictures, let them glue wisps of cotton on their papers for clouds.
 

AIRPLANE MOBILES Try one of the ideas below for making airplanes. Then tie pieces of string onto coat hangers and attach your children's creations to the loose string ends to make mobiles. Cut airplane shapes out of construction paper. Have the children decorate the shapes with crayon or marker designs, stickers, or collage materials. Let your children paint short cardboard tubes for airplane bodies. Give them each a construction paper wings shape, about 2 by 8 inches, to glue onto the underside of their tubes. Have them use circle stickers for windows.

 
FINGERPRINT AIRPLANE BOOKS
Set out washable inkpads. Give each of your children five small index cards numbered from 1 to 5. Invite the children to stamp matching numbers of fingerprints on their cards for airplane bodies and add wings with crayons. When they have finished, help them stack their cards in numerical order and staple them together to make counting books.
 

COLOR RUNWAYS Have your children use blocks to set up an airport on the floor. Select toy airplanes of several different colors. Make runways for the planes by taping pieces of matching colored paper to the floor. Then let the children "fly" the planes in and out of their airport using the matching colored runways for takeoffs and landings.

PRETEND FLIGHTS Line up chairs to make an "airplane cabin." Invite your children to sit in the cabin while you "pilot" the plane. As you do so, talk about the sights the passengers can see out the windows. When your flight is over, let the children take turns being the pilot and describing the views.

CAN FLY, CAN'T FLY Have your children "fly" around the room as you name things that can fly and things that can't fly, such as planes, butterflies, birds, boats, houses, and dogs. Whenever the children hear the name of something that can't fly, have them slow down and gently "land" on the ground. Continue as long as you wish.

WE ARE FLYING Tune: "Frere Jacques" We are flying, we are flying Up so high, up so high. See the fluffy white clouds, See the sparkly sunshine In the sky, in the sky. We are flying, we are flying Round and round, round and round. See the tiny houses, See the tiny people On the ground, on the ground. Elizabeth Scofield

AIRPLANE SNACKS Form an "airplane cabin" using lined-up chairs and invite your children to sit in them. Then have "flight attendants" take orders for boxed juices and simple finger foods to serve to the "passengers."