At-Home Activities: Planes

We have created sensory-friendly at-home activities related to planes that will keep your family engaged and learning beyond our sensory-friendly programming. These resources have connections to The Henry Ford, as well as a variety of related activities. They can be used at any time and in any combination. Please feel free to contact accessibility@thehenryford.org with any questions or suggestions.


Video: The Evolution of Aviation-- The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation
WATCH

You can use the following guiding questions to have a conversation with your child about the video

  • How are the earliest planes different from planes that we see now?
  • Similarly to how quickly planes evolved, what have you seen change rapidly in your lifetime?
  • Would you like to fly in any of these early planes?

Craft: Plastic Airplane Bottle Craft
VIEW

  • In this activity, you and your child will use any kind of bottle, cardboard, tape, and materials to decorate in order to make a plane.
  • This plane can also be used as a piggy bank - just add a small opening at the top.
  • This activity provides opportunities to practice fine motor skills and the creativity that comes along with making and decorating your own plane.
  • Encourage your child to think back to the video you have watched -- ask them to think about what era plane they would like to create or ask them to create a plane of the future.

Social Activity: Create Your Own Passport
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Use the instructions and materials provided in this link to encourage your child to make a passport:

  • In this activity, you would explain to your child what a passport is and when you may use it. Explain that passports allow us to travel anywhere we would like to.
  • Once the passport is created and decorated, encourage your child to virtually explore places they may want to travel. Take a trip via Google Earth and add those places to your passport.
  • This is a hands-on activity in that participants are creating their own passport. It uses the passport as a vehicle to explore different places, cultures, and traditions.

Sing Along: Below are suggested singalong songs around the theme of planes


Connection to The Henry Ford

Here are some places in Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and Greenfield Village that you can visit to learn more about planes:


Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation

Heroes of the Sky (Henry Ford Museum Aviation History Exhibit - Heroes Of The Sky)


Greenfield Village

Wright Home
Wright Cycle Shop