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How to Make a Pipe Cleaner Helicopter

Hands-on craft projects are an ideal opportunity for children to cement learning concepts. For instance, in a unit on transportation, helicopters are one form of aerial transport. Providing children with the opportunity to create a helicopter from a few basic materials gives them practice in naming helicopter parts and functions, following multiple step directions and making a cool toy.

Things You'll Need

4-inch long, oval-shaped Styrofoam
Acrylic paint and paintbrush
Butcher paper or newspaper
Drinking straws
Scissors
Pipe cleaners
Glue

Instructions

- 1
  Paint a Styrofoam ball, which will be the helicopter cabin, in a solid color. Set it on butcher paper or newspaper to air-dry.
- 2
  Make the helicopter landing skids from two 2-inch-long pieces of drinking straws. Press each straw 1-inch deep into the Styrofoam ball near the larger end. Space the straws 1/2-inch apart. Bend two pipe cleaners in half. Poke the center of each pipe cleaner into one of the straws on the Styrofoam egg. Bend each portion of the pipe cleaner that is sticking out of the straw perpendicular to the straw. Arrange the pipe cleaner landing skids parallel to each other.
- 3
  Create the tail rotor from a 5-inch piece of straw. Poke an inch of the straw into the small back end of the Styrofoam egg. Cut two 1-inch pieces of pipe cleaner. Lay them criss-cross over the top end of the straw. Glue them to the top of the end of the straw.
- 4
  Make the flat rotors from a 1-inch piece of straw. Poke half of the straw through the top of the Styrofoam egg on the opposite side from the landing skids. Fold two pieces of pipe cleaner in half. Poke the center of the pipe cleaners into the straw. Bend the pipe cleaner portions that stick out of the straw perpendicular to the straw. Space them evenly so they look like rotors swirling around the top of the helicopter.

Childrens Toys