Materials
variety of tree seeds that spin
thin card stock (5 1/2 " x 1 1/4 ") paper clipsInstructions
1. Show the children seeds from maple, oak, and sycamore trees. Drop the
seeds and watch them spin like a helicopter.
2. Pre-cut a 2 1/2 " slit in the top center of each 5 1/2 " x 1 1/4 " piece of card stock.
3. Give each child two card stock rectangles to make his own helicopter
or gyrocopter.
4. Show the children how to fold the two cut pieces of card stock at right
angles to the length, one going backwards and one going forwards (see
the illustration on the next page).
5. Help them attach a paper clip pointing straight up in the center of the
bottom of the card.
6. When these helicopters are dropped from a height, they will spin to the
ground.
More to do Use this activity as part of a nature or aircraft theme.
More Science: Talk about seeds and the different ways they travel from
place to place and are propagated.
Language: Talk about different meanings of the word "spin."
Music and Movement: Have the children spin around to appropriate
music.