It must be natural for little boys to gravitate to making paper airplanes. A couple of years ago it started with Thomas. One day he may have asked Tom to make him a paper airplane or possibly Tom made one for him on a whim. He still remembers how to make the same paper airplanes that his dad taught him when he was about Thomas’ age. From that first plane, we’ve had a constant stream of paper airplane-making in our home.
This airplane-making business used to land mostly on Tom’s shoulders. At some point Thomas and Arthur began asking me to do it for them during the day when Tom was at work. I didn’t quite have the “technique” that Tom did, so a few searches on Google helped me out. I came across the post, “How to Make the World’s Best Paper Airplanes” over at Art of Manliness and quickly bookmarked it for future use. The boys were impressed with my airplane-making skills thanks to the handy step-by-step instructions. They were particularly partial to the bulldog dart design.
Over the past few years I couldn’t count how many airplanes we’ve made for them. They’ll go through spurts of asking one of us to make them constantly for a few days. Their favorite thing to do is stand at one end of our living room and see whose is a better stunt plane, what their trickster plane can do, whose plane flies the farthest, etc., etc.
Last year for show and tell in Kindergarten Thomas begged to bring a paper airplane Tom had made him. We finally said he could only show it and not fly it unless his teacher said it was okay. Coincidentally, I happened to be reading to his class that same day and was taking him home early after I read. His teacher let him do his show and tell a little earlier than the rest of the class before we left. Several of the kids asked if he could fly it, and Thomas beamed as it soared across the room.
One morning recently when the little boys and I were picking up some birthday gifts for Thomas, we came across the Klutz Book of Paper Airplanes, and I knew he would love it. Matter of fact, Arthur was immersed in the book sitting on the floor of the store. As I looked around and told Arthur we would pick two of the items we were deciding among to buy he says, “But we’re still getting the airplane book, right?
We definitely got the book and have been making paper airplanes daily for a few weeks now. They don’t seem to tire of playing with them. The book is sitting on their play table most days open to their latest pick. The book includes 10 planes to choose from with detailed instructions, and they are a step up from your average paper airplane. Along with the instructions for each plane, it tells you the type of plane: glider, stunt, etc. Also, there’s a throw chart and tips for flying each type of plane. The book is full tips on folding and tweaking and just about any paper airplane fact you’d like to know. And it comes with some pretty cool printed paper too! I can see the boys using this for a while.
Thomas is gradually getting the hang of making a few simple ones himself. Quite often I find a paper in his backpack he’s tried to make into a paper airplane. And at the children’s Christmas program rehearsal at church this year, while his age was waiting their turn to practice their songs, I noticed him attempting to make paper airplanes for his friends. Naturally, we’ve had many talks about when it’s appropriate to throw them and when it’s not. But for the foreseeable future it looks like something they’ll continue to enjoy. John Lloyd’s picking up right behind them. He’ll find one they put down and say, “I try.”
