My boys are obsessed with airplanes, especially the paper kind! July 24 is Amelia Earhart Day, in which we celebrate this amazing woman who set many early aviation records! Honestly, could a holiday be any more perfect for us? In honor of Ms. Earhart, my fella’s and I decided to make paper airplanes and set some of our own records. I also thought it would be fun making different styles. I found a cool site, with twelve different kinds to try, and we settled on four.
We Used:
- Lined notebook paper
- Construction paper
Styles we made:
- The Glider
- The Shuttle
- The Little Nicky
- The Glider #2 (aka “The Big Daddy-O”, it is the style that Daddy always folds for the kids)
* All 12 styles, including the 4 we tried, can be found here
My oldest and I spent time together folding the paper airplanes and chatting about the history behind the holiday. CAUTION, some of the instructions proved to be a bit tricky to follow, but we were able to figure them out with a little ingenuity. Armed with our completed project, we headed to the great outdoors to give these beauties a test flight!
Fun Facts about Amelia Earhart
Amelia was 16th woman ever to receive a pilot’s license, and placed third in the First Women’s Air Derby, also known as the Powder Puff Derby in August of 1929.
On July 2, 1937 she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, disappeared without a trace while searching for Howell Island. The disappearance of Earhart’s plane resulted in the largest search and rescue operation to date! We observe this day on the same day every year because it happens to be her birthday (so maybe more sad then fun, but interesting none the less).
You can find Amelia’s many achievements here along with some great photos of her.
We had so much fun launching them, and seeing who’s would go the furthest! Our record-setter was hands-down the “Big Daddy-o” (pictured below). It has the best hang-time, and it even did a few loops! Runner-up was “The Glider”. While it didn’t get great hang-time or go super far it did at least drift, unlike “The Shuttle” and “The Little Nicky”. Both the Shuttle and the Little Nicky would nose-dive immediately—it could have had something to do with our folding.
This was a great activity for the whole family! I loved the giggles and cheers as my boys raced their airplanes through the sky! I would love see what paper airplanes you create in celebration to this AWESOME lady! Share pictures of your fun below!!