Paper Airplane Distance Contest

What you need

• Paper, 1 sheet per child
• Painter's tape, 1 roll
• Crayons or markers, a handful
• Paper clips, a few (optional)

How to do it

Grown-up prep: Find a clear hallway or patch of yard and tape a throwing line on the floor or ground. Set out one sheet of paper per child plus crayons and tape. Keep the paper clips with you and hand them out one at a time, since they are a choking risk for little ones. Set one rule before anyone throws: planes always fly away from people, never toward faces.

1. Fold your paper in half the long way, then open it flat again.
2. Fold the two top corners in to the center crease.
3. Fold the new slanted edges in to the center crease again.
4. Fold the plane in half along the center crease, with the folds outside.
5. Fold the top wing down to meet the bottom edge.
6. Flip the plane over and fold the other wing to match.
   Ask: Which part of your plane do you think helps it fly the farthest?
7. Decorate your plane with crayons and give it a name.
8. Tape a throwing line on the floor or ground.
9. Take turns throwing your planes from the line, away from people.
   Ask: Does a hard throw or a gentle throw go farther?
10. Measure how far each plane flew, and remember the number.
11. Now change just one thing on your plane, like adding a paper clip. Ask for help if you need it
    Ask: Which change do you think will help the most, and what's your guess for the new distance?
12. Throw your changed plane from the same line and measure again.
13. Now fly again with friends! What one change will you try next?
    Ask: How far can your champion plane fly if you keep tweaking it?

Play it again

• Target landing: tape a square on the floor and try to land your plane inside it.
• Longest flight: see whose plane stays in the air the longest instead of going the farthest.
• Team tweak: swap planes with a friend, change one thing on each, and test them again.