KS1 Flying Machines Activities

Explore the Wonder of Flight with Six Cross-Curricular Activities

Inspire your KS1 students with this comprehensive resource featuring six engaging activities that explore the history of flight, forces, and engineering through hands-on investigation, design, and creative exploration.

Six Complete Activities Included:

1. History Of Flying Timeline: Journey through the history of human flight! Create a timeline from early flying attempts to modern aircraft, discovering key inventors and milestones including the Wright Brothers, hot air balloons, and space flight—building chronological understanding and historical knowledge
2. Comparing Parachute Materials: Investigate which materials make the best parachutes! Test different fabrics and materials to see which slows descent most effectively, conducting fair tests and discovering how air resistance affects falling objects
3. Balloon Power: Explore jet propulsion using balloons! Investigate how releasing air from a balloon creates thrust, understanding the basic principle that powers rockets and jets through hands-on experimentation
4. Paper Aeroplane Design Investigation: Become aircraft engineers! Design, make, and test different paper aeroplane designs, investigating which shapes fly furthest or straightest—developing design skills and understanding of aerodynamics through trial and improvement
5. Helicopter Model: Create spinning helicopter models! Make simple helicopters from paper that spin as they fall, exploring how rotor blades create lift and understanding the principles that make helicopters fly
6. Design Your Own Flying Machine: Let imagination soar! Design and create original flying machines using craft materials, applying knowledge of flight principles while developing creativity, design skills, and engineering thinking

Why Teachers Choose This Resource:

• Cross-Curricular Excellence: Seamlessly combines Science (forces), Design & Technology, History, Art & Design, and Maths
• Hands-On Learning: Practical activities that make flight principles tangible through making and testing
• Develops Multiple Skills: Builds scientific knowledge, design abilities, historical understanding, and creative thinking
• Ready to Use: Complete lesson plans with learning objectives, templates, and step-by-step instructions
• Engaging Content: Flight naturally captures children's imagination and enthusiasm
• Age-Appropriate: Activities specifically designed for 5-7 year olds with achievable, exciting tasks
• Accessible Materials: Uses paper, balloons, and simple craft supplies

Perfect For:

• KS1 cross-curricular flight-themed topic work
• Science lessons on forces and movement
• Design & Technology projects
• History lessons on significant achievements
• Homeschool curriculum
• Building understanding of flight, forces, and engineering

Learning Outcomes:

Through these activities, children will explore the history of human flight and key inventors, investigate forces including air resistance and thrust, design, make, and test flying machines, understand basic principles of flight including lift and propulsion, develop fair testing and investigation skills, and build design and engineering thinking through practical projects.

What Makes This Resource Special:

Flight combines history, science, and engineering in ways that naturally excite children. These activities harness that enthusiasm, helping children understand not just that things fly, but how and why. By making parachutes, testing paper aeroplanes, and designing flying machines, children experience the engineering design process—test, evaluate, improve—while learning about forces and flight.

Building Design and Engineering Skills:

The design activities are particularly valuable because they develop engineering thinking. By testing different paper aeroplane designs or parachute materials, children learn that design is iterative—you try, test, learn, and improve. This process builds resilience, problem-solving skills, and understanding that failure is part of learning—crucial lessons for young learners.

Connecting Past and Present:

The history timeline helps children understand that flight is a human achievement built over time through determination and innovation. By learning about the Wright Brothers and other pioneers, children see that today's technology comes from yesterday's dreams—inspiring them to imagine what tomorrow might bring.

Take flight with learning! These engaging activities help KS1 students discover the wonder of flight through hands-on investigation and design that combines science, history, and engineering—building knowledge, creativity, and enthusiasm for how things work and how humans have achieved the dream of flight.