Come fly with me ...

Paper planes appeal to kids (and adults) of all ages.  It may be something you did as a child with a grownup helping you to perfect a great flyer.

You may not have stopped to think that paper planes encourage visual motor planning, bilateral coordination (using both hands together), and fine motor accuracy in executing the folds. They are lots of fun too!

In the Miller Function and Participation Scales there is an "origami" subtest that measures this against age appropriate norms.  Miller describes the skills needed for this activity to be similar to participation in home activities (eg. folding towels, napkins, clothes or the newspaper) or school activities (eg. turning pages in books or folding paper for art projects).

Mr 4 received a terrific book for his birthday recently with over 50 examples for folding paper planes. Whilst he needs lots of help to complete the simple ones, Miss 7 has taken over the book and has loved following the instructions to build a variety of planes.  Miss 7 and Mr 4 have spent hours flying the planes {outside, inside, down the stairwell}, decorating them and turning them into characters for stories (mostly Miss 7 with that one). Miss 7 has also attached messages to some of her planes (see the photo). Best of all it is something despite their different interests and abilities that they can do together. 

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Here are instructions for one of Miss 7's favourite planes ... the "acrobatic".  Make sure you press down after each step.

Do your kids enjoy making paper planes?  What is their favourite? Send me a photo of your creations, I would love to see them!

Note: This post may contain affiliate links.  All photos and comments made here are my own.