How to Make Airplanes With Construction Paper for Pre-K Students

Narrow Plane

• 1

  Allow each child to choose a sheet of construction paper.

• 2

  Fold the papers in half lengthwise, make a sharp crease, then unfold the paper and lay it on a flat surface. This central line will help the children to fold their airplanes evenly.

• 3

  Create the nose of the airplane by folding the top right and left corners of the paper to the center line, matching the top edges of the paper with the center. This will create two identical right triangles, a new left and right corner and a point at the center. This point will be the nose of the airplane. Crease the folds.

• 4

  Fold the new left and right corners inward, matching the top angle of the paper with the center line again. Crease the folds.

• 5

  Fold the paper inward along the center line again. Crease the fold, making a long, narrow triangle.

• 6

  Create wings. Match the edge of the flap with the central line and make a fold. Turn the plane over and fold the other wing the same way, then lift each wing slightly.

• 7

  Allow the children to color, decorate and fly the airplanes.

Wide Plane

• 8

  Allow each child to choose a piece of construction paper.

• 9

  Fold the paper in half, lengthwise, to create a center line. This will help the children fold the airplanes evenly.

• 10

  Fold the top right and left corners toward the center, ensuring that the top edges of the paper line up along the central line. This will create a triangle with a point at the top of the page. Fold the triangle inward, turning it upside-down, so that the bottom of the triangle is at the top of the page and the triangle's point meets the center line. Crease the fold. Fold an inch of the triangle's tip upward, then unfold. This will create a "Nakamura lock" that will hold the airplane together. Nakamura was a Japanese origami artist.

• 11

  Fold the new top right and left corners toward the central line, creating the airplane's tip. Fold the "Nakamura lock" upward to hold the corners in place, then turn the plane over and fold it in half along the center line. The "Nakamura lock" will be on the outside of the airplane.

• 12

  Fold the outer edges toward the center line, crease the folds, then unfold slightly to create wings.