15+ Interesting Helicopter Activities for Your Little Ones 

The idea of flying in the sky has always been appealing not only to kids but also to adults.

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a bird so that I could fly freely all the time. On the other hand, my daughter wants to be a cloud ☁️ floating in the sky without any worries. 

My son has a basket full of toy airplanes, helicopters, rockets, and UFOs 🛸 and he loves playing with them all the time.

Nowadays, most of the kids are really enthusiastic about learning about the technical elements of these flying machines. My son often expresses his desire to make his own helicopter someday. 

Therefore, all activities involving the theme of helicopters are quite popular in our household. I always make sure that these helicopter-themed activities are also helping my little ones with improving their motor and cognitive 🧠 skills.

Amazing Helicopter Activities For Kids 

Read on to discover a few of the helicopter 🚁 activities I love to engage in with my little ones.

Visit A Helicopter Museum

History has seen the invention of fabulous helicopters 🚁 with mesmerizing designs. A visit to an aviation museum is an excellent idea ✅️ to get my kids well-acquainted with the beauty of this technical wonder.

There are several museums 🔍 all around the world showcasing excellent models of helicopters 🚁 that have left a mark on the world’s history.

Not only helicopters but aviation museums give my kids an amazing glimpse into the world of fantastic airplanes ✈️ too. My kids and I love to explore all the fantastic aircraft, artifacts, and historical treasures these museums offer.

My Straw Helicopter 

My son told me that he would like to go take a tour to explore the sky 🏙 with his favorite animated characters on a 🚁 helicopter. I can’t make this adorable dream a reality for my son, but as a parent, I had to do something about it.

Therefore, I discovered the idea of making a straw helicopter 🚁 to carry my son’s favorite animated characters through the sky.

Although these straw helicopters 🚁 don’t take their passengers on a tour to explore great heights, the short distance the animated characters get to travel in the air is always enough to make my son ☺️ smile.

What you need– 

Paper straws, paper, cutouts of your little one’s favorite animated characters, craft glue, and embellishments.

Steps

  • Firstly, I take a piece of white paper and help my little ones draw squares 🔲 on it using dotted lines with a colorful marker pen. (Recommended measurement of the square’s each side: 4.5 inches).
  • Following this simple step, I guide my little ones to cut ✂️ along the dotted lines to create square-shaped cutouts, thereby boosting their fine motor skills.
  • I help my little ones to wrap a piece of a square cutout around the straw and attach the ends using glue, such that the cutout creates a slidable tube around the straw.
  • I help my kids slide out the tube from the paper straw and seal one end of the straw with craft glue.
  • My son, daughter and I love to prepare small cutouts of our favorite animated characters and decorate them by painting eyes 👀 or sticking embellishments.
  • We stuck the cutouts of the animated characters on the paper tube using glue and slid it back on the paper straw through the open end of the tube.
  • Now, when my son blows air into the straw with his mouth, the air pressure generated forces the tube on the other end of the straw to carry out his favorite animated characters through the air for a distance good enough to make him 😃 smile ear to ear. 

Highest Helicopter 

This is a very suitable ✅️ activity to keep your little ones physically active. Moreover, if your little ones love helicopters 🚁, then they are going to love it a lot.

What you need– 

Styrofoam, paint 🎨, cutter, glue, dice, colorful papers of varying textures (such as sandpaper, glossy paper, chart paper, brown paper, kite paper, handmade textured paper, and glitter paper), marker pen, scissors ✂️, threads or rubber bands.

Steps:

  • For this activity, firstly I prepare helicopter-shaped 🚁 cutouts from styrofoam sheets using a cutter.
  • Now, I draw the outline of a helicopter with dotted lines on the textured paper. I instruct my kids to cut ✂️ along the dotted outlines using a pair of scissors to create helicopter cutouts. 
  • Not only learning how to handle a pair of scissors is an amazing motor activity for kids, but playing with different textured papers is a fantastic sensory exercise for children.
  • Now, I stick these cutouts on the styrofoam helicopters 🚁 and tie them to the palms of my kids using a rubber band or thread. 
  • You can also attach strips of cardboard to create the blades of the helicopter if you find it difficult to cut out the outline of a helicopter with slender blades from a styrofoam sheet.
  • They dip it in paint of diverse shades and press the helicopter’s 🚁 impressions on white chart paper. They create an amazing helicopter-themed painting with stamps of diverse textures.
  • Often, I hang this chart paper on the wall and encourage my kids to jump and put the impression of the helicopter at the highest reachable point on the paper. 

The one who is able to put the helicopter’s 🚁 impression on the highest point wins the game.

  • For a counting activity, you can also hang a white chart paper on the wall for your little ones. I ask them to roll a dice 🎲 and identify the number on the face of the dice facing upwards. 
  • Following this step, I usually instruct them to put the impressions of helicopters 🚁 on the chart paper the same number of times.

Watch Helicopter-themed Shows

Helicopters 🚁, airplanes ✈️, or rockets 🚀- all have been a big part of television shows 🎬 for a long time.

In fact, my son’s favoritism towards remote-controlled helicopters started off after watching an animated movie featuring it.

Budgie The Little Helicopter is a show that brings back a lot of nostalgic memories from my childhood days. I remember my friends, and I used to enjoy watching the episodes a lot.

Thomas and His Friends also features a cute helicopter, which is a popular character in the show. As much as we love this show’s title song, the characters are also equally loved by kids all around the globe.

Important Note:

I will advise all parents to strictly go through the contents of any show 🎬 before allowing their little ones to watch it just to be sure that the contents of the shows are suitable ✅️ according to the age group of your little one.

Read Books About Helicopters

Even though helicopters 🚁 have a complex mechanism, we still have a lot of simple things to teach our kids about it.

What is the best way to teach them about helicopters?

I believe reading informative books 📚 is an extremely effective way of learning about helicopters.

You can read story books 📖 , novels, or anything your little one fancies to treat them with fascinating information about helicopters. 

Here are a few helicopter-themed books we love to read:

Important Note:

I will advise all parents to strictly go through the contents of any book 📖 before allowing their little ones to read it just to be sure that the contents of the books are suitable ✅️ according to the age group of your little one.

Helicopter Craft Activities

Helicopter 🚁 craft activities are quite popular with my little ones.

 I just love to incorporate creative 🔍 and crafty methods of painting helicopters into the day-to-day activities of my helicopter enthusiasts because these activities also aid in boosting their cognitive 🧠 skills, coordination between hand ✋️ and eyes 👀 , and motor skills.

Here are a few ideas and recommended methods for making amazing paintings of helicopters 🚁 that my little ones happily engage in:

Scavenger Hunt: 

A nature scavenger hunt around the backyard is an excellent activity idea for kids. I ask my kids to take a basket 🧺 and collect leaves 🍃 in the shades of green and brown 🍂, twigs, sticks, flowers, and pebbles from all around the lawn. 

They also collect branches and stones along with any other thing they might find interesting. I draw the outline of a helicopter 🚁 on a piece of white chart paper, and we create a helicopter by sticking all the things my little explorers have hunted down from the park. 

We use tiny branches or sticks to create the helicopter’s blades and green 🍃 leaves for the body. We glue the slender sticks to create the propellers, whereas tiny rocks are excellent supplies to create the windows. 

Egg Carton Helicopter: 

I just help my kids to paint 🎨 an egg carton with colorful shades of paint, and we insert two sticks tied together perpendicularly to form the structure like a ‘T’ on top of the carton to create the helicopter’s 🚁 blades. 

We also add paper folded in the form of a Japanese fan to create the cute little rotor at the tail of a helicopter. You can use a paper cup 🥤 instead of the egg carton, too.

Fork Helicopter: 

I instruct my adorable helicopter 🚁 enthusiasts through the process of dipping a fork’s backside in black and brown shades of paint 🎨 and pressing its impression on paper in a particular fashion to create the helicopter’s body. 

We create its blades, stabilizers, and other parts using a paintbrush 🖌 or by sticking beautiful embellishments or accessories.

Hand Painting: 

I ask my little helicopter enthusiasts to place their palms in a tray carrying several shades of paint 🎨 and stamp its impression on a piece of paper with the image of a helicopter’s body in their mind. 

This entire impression creates the helicopter’s 🚁 picture, and the impression of the fingers serves as the segment of the helicopter’s body extending towards the tail rotor. We love to decorate this helicopter using embellishments. 

This helicopter-themed activity enhances the coordination of hands ✋️ of my little ones and aids the child to 🧠 focus on a specific activity.

Rice, Grain, Cereal, or Pasta Helicopter: 

Playing with rice, grains, cereals, or pasta takes us back to my childhood days. Therefore, I discovered an excellent way to incorporate these things into an ideal sensory activity for my little helicopter 🚁 enthusiasts. 

I put rice, grains, cereals, or pieces of pasta inside a ziplock bag and add several shades of paint to it (if your little one is a fan of any animated helicopter character, then you can add colors according to that character’s appearance). 

I instruct my little helicopter enthusiasts to shake the bag and keep it aside for the paint to dry up so that the pieces of pasta, grains, cereals, or rice are in our desired shades of color.

I draw the outline of an adorable helicopter 🚁 on a piece of white chart paper and guide my little helicopter enthusiasts to glue these grains of rice, cereals, or pieces of pasta on it using craft glue (an excellent and ideal ✅️ activity that helps to enhance the focus of a growing child).

Bubble Wrap Helicopter: 

I remember fighting with my siblings for a piece of bubble wrap during my childhood days because I loved to pop the bubbles on it. I believe bubble wraps are fantastic 😍 supplies to utilize for amazing craft activities. 

Therefore, we decided to create a bubbly helicopter using it. I just instruct my little helicopter 🚁 enthusiasts to immerse a piece of bubble wrap (cut in the shape or outline of a helicopter) in shades of any color and press its impression on paper. 

You can also draw the outline of a helicopter and stick pieces of bubble wrap dipped in colorful shades of paint to make a bubbly helicopter painting.

Edible Helicopters

Dishes, cookies 🍪, biscuits, breads, and ice-creams prepared on the theme of airplanes ✈️, rockets 🚀, or helicopters 🚁 are famous amongst kids all over the world. 

I love making tasty helicopter-themed delicacies for my little helicopter enthusiasts at home. I have mentioned a few of those simple dishes here, and I hope 😇 you will like them.

Helicopter Cupcakes: 

My little helicopter enthusiasts love cupcakes 🧁, especially with the pretty icing on the top. Therefore, I put their favorite cream in a piping bag and often guide them to create the outlines of a helicopter 🚁 on the cupcake. 

Using a piping bag to create a particular pattern demands focus along with proper hand-to-eye coordination, therefore, this activity is good for enhancing the focus 🧠 and concentration of my little helicopter enthusiasts. 

You can also teach your little ones how to create a helicopter 🚁 with the help of arranging tube-shaped cupcakes, slices of bread 🍞 , cookies (use cookie cutters in the shape of a helicopter), or a scoop of ice cream.

Vegetable Helicopter: 

I love this helicopter-themed activity because it is an amazing way of encouraging little ones to eat nutritious green vegetables and fruits. 

I use slices of vegetables to create a helicopter 🚁 by placing them on a plate. Two olives are used to create the windows, whereas slender stick-like slices of a carrot 🥕 are excellent to create the blades and stabilizers.

Marshmallow helicopter: 

We just take a piece of marshmallow and draw helicopters 🚁 on it using honey or cream. You can do the same with donuts 🍩 , pies 🥧, or even on a birthday 🎂 cake.

Helicopter Trapped In A Bag

Now, this helicopter-themed 🚁 sensory activity is a staple in everyone’s household. I believe sensory activities have always played a significant role in the overall development of a child; therefore, I never miss out on this amazing 👏 activity.

What you need– 

Flour, vegetable oil, helicopter-themed accessories, and everything related to helicopters. 

Steps: 

  • I ask my little helicopter 🚁 enthusiasts to think and name any five things that remind them of helicopters. 
  • I put those five things, along with the other helicopter-themed accessories (a tiny model of a helicopter 🚁 made up of plastic is recommended) in a plastic bag filled with a mixture of vegetable oil and flour. 
  • I instruct my little ones to locate those items in the bag (the helicopter 🚁 model made up of plastic) using their hands, thereby improving ✅️ their sensory skills.

Conclusion 

My kids are extremely enthusiastic about flying; therefore, these helicopter-themed 🚁 activities are a hit in our household.

These activities are not only enjoyable but also help in the overall development ✅️ of my little ones. In fact, the helicopter-themed delicacies are also a favorite 😋 in our household.

Tell me in the comments below 😇 which helicopter-themed 🚁 activity your little ones liked the most.

Was this article helpful?

Leave a Comment