Here are two fun ways to harness the power of paper and watch things take flight.

Both of these projects are far less involved than the rockets and planes Travis and I have made recently, but sometimes you just need something simple to fill a lazy morning.

First we made a school of  “flipping fishies”.

Draw rectangles on white paper and color in. The more colors the better!

Cut out the rectangles, and cut a notch on each end, facing in opposite directions.

Slot these notches together and you have fish. Soon we had mommies, daddies, and baby fish.

Toss them in the air and watch them whirl!

Interestingly, we discovered that our baby fish swirled much better than the bigger ones we made.

Next up, we did a repeat of a flying straw we’d made recently with a Kiwi Crate; as with our repeat of the Balloon Rocket, this time we used wide (“milkshake”) straws for better effect.

Cutting out rectangles was great practice for Travis to cut in straight lines!

For each straw, make one long rectangle, and one short; tape these into circles, and tape onto the straws.

Hold your straw so the small circle is at the front – and let it soar!

Those paper circles really catch the wind, and will carry your straw across a room. It’s fun to compare these to a plain old straw, which nose-dives right down.

Happy flying!