Flying High
Below are activities that all have a Flying High theme. These activities include things that will help your child develop fine and gross motor skills, problem-solving and engineering skills, and can help them engage in cooperative play, while fostering creativity and perseverance. Each theme also comes with recommended literature and movie connections. Feel free to throw in your own activities that might relate, and don’t forget to post your results to social media and tag @discoverymuse to share with everyone else!
Science Experiment and Fine Motor Activity
For this activity, you’ll need to collect some paper, recycled items, tape or glue, and a fan.
Directions
- Using the paper, create a paper airplane. Test it out, measuring how far it goes. You can be official and use a tape measure or rule. Some fun ways of measuring include using your own foot to mark off the distance, seeing how many yous your plane traveled, or how many cartwheels it went. (History says ancient measurements were done in this manner – which is how we come up with the word “Foot” as a measurement!)
- Channel your inner Leonardo DaVinci Using recycled items, build a contraption with wings! This can be made with popsicle sticks, yogurt containers, coffee filters, rubber bands, cardboard pieces, etc. Once it is complete, secure a small action figure or LEGO person onto the contraption. Place a fan so that it is facing up and then test out whether your contraption can fly! (The wider the wings, the more likely it will be to hover).
- Kite time! Fold a piece of paper in half longways. Use a stapler or piece of tape to attach the corners about an inch down from the top. Attach a thin string at the staple location. Use a breezy March day to catch some wind!
Physical Activity
Get some of those wiggles out while learning a little about air, practice “flying” movements and work on their aim with underhand throwing movements
- For one activity, you will use a straw or paper tube of your own creation and a feather (or balloon, tissue, light fabric or a scrap of paper). Toss the “feather” in the air. Using your breath, blow through the tube at the feather, keeping it in the air as long as possible. Time yourself – how long can you keep it floating?
- Or try get your ‘wing’ muscles going – flap like a bird 20 times, do 10 jumping jacks, 10 forward arm cirlces, 10 backward arm circles, and 10 push ups! You can even end with a rendition of the chicken dance!
- For an outside activity – create your own Angry Birds game! Use empty boxes (cereal, amazon, etc) to build a structure. When it’s complete fill it with ‘pigs’ by placing stuffed animals (or a substitution if we have uncomfortable feelings about our lovey being a victim!) on/in the structure. Find a soft, small ball or bean bag ‘bird’ to toss (in an underhand motion) toward the tower of boxes. Work on your aim, until you’re able to knock over the ‘pigs’ successfully!
Conversation Starters and Research Questions
- Brainstorm everything that can fly on its own. What makes each thing able to fly?
- If you could fly, where would you go? What would you do?
- List all the TV/movie/book characters you know that can fly (Superman, Peter Pan, IronMan, Fairly Odd Parents, Lord Voldemort, etc)
Videos and Websites
Check out this site for links to up to 56 live cameras on 7 different types of birds!
You can even watch penguins, which are flightless birds.
(It’s true-check here: https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/penguinsfly.html)
Movie/Literature Connection:
Because we know you’re stuck at home with limited access to movies and books, we tried to compile a list that connects to today’s theme that you might already have in your collection or be able to access online. These include:
Movies:
- The Bee Movie
- Chicken Run
- Fly Away Home
- Peter Pan
Books:
- Tar Beach by Faith Ringold https://youtu.be/h9RKJleFdBU
- The Hallelujah Flight by https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUSuVnemnXM
- Flight School by Lita Judge https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGLNTWKD5qI
- Kite Day by Will Hillenbrand https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IGmeddXs3o
- Amelia Earhart by Isabel Sanchez https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vN1o6u7Zo9A
Music
Create a “flying” themed playlist! Be sure to include some classics like:
- Come Fly with Me by Frank Sinatra
- Wind Beneath My Wings by Bette Midler
- Fly Like an Eagle by Steve Miller Band
- Leaving on a Jet Plane by John Denver
