EYFS Activities: Transport aeroplanes and helicopters

It is well documented that children learn best from first-hand experiences, so think about how you can make it relevant to the children in your care by drawing on their personal experiences and perhaps organising a trip so that you can encounter aeroplanes together.

IN THE SETTING

• Talk to the children about their own experiences of aeroplanes and helicopters. Have they ever flown in one – what did it feel like? Was take off and landing fun or scary? Perhaps a child has experience of an airportfrom travelling abroad. Have they been to an air show?
• Gather images of a range of vehicles that fly, or explore a non-fiction book on aviation (see box), from vintage bi-planes to Concorde. Look at the similarities and differences, such as the shape, size, colour and wings. Explain that they are vehicles which fly in the air.
• Discussing aircraft can help to introduce children to the wider world around them. Talk about how aeroplanes fly both short and long distances to enable people to travel to different cities and countries. Attach a large map of the world to the wall and use pins to mark on all the places that the children, practitioners and families have flown to – who has flown the longest distance? How long did it take? Use string to show possible flight paths.
• Use parents as a resource by asking them if they can help with the topic. Perhaps one of them works for an airline or the RAF and can come in to the nursery in uniform to talk about their job, or maybe they work for an aircraft manufacturer and can share how aeroplanes are made.
• Link the explorations to discussions about people’s jobs and consider all the roles associated with an airport – from pilots and cabin crew to people working in passport control to aircraft controllers, baggage handlers and shop workers. Consider setting up an airport terminal and departure lounge in your setting for role-play opportunities, such as a check-in desk where they can show their tickets and passports. Discuss with the children what props they may need, such as tickets, uniform, suitcases, computer, luggage scales and route maps. Provide resources for making their own travel documents, such as passports, luggage labels and boarding cards, in the mark-making area.
• Check out Google Earth to give the children an aerial perspective of where they live and go to nursery – help them to ‘fly’ over their local area. What landmarks can they identify from the sky? Perhaps visit other destinations such as where a grandparent lives in another country, or a city the children are interested in.
• Include toy aeroplanes and helicopters in your small-world play area.

IN THE COMMUNITY

• Contact your local airport or airfield to find out if it is possible to arrange a visit. Or, do you have an aviation or transport museum nearby?
• Some air ambulances welcome groups to tour their airbase and look at the helicopters.
• Challenge the children to listen out and look for aeroplanes and helicopters while on walks.
• Inform parents if you hear of an aerobatic display that they could visit as a family.

Aeroplane books

Fiction

• A Day at the Airport by Richard Scarry – Funny stories from the airport.
• Touch The Earth by Julian Lennon – Fly to the top of mountains and into seas.
• Planes and Rockets and Things That Fly by Richard Scarry – How things fly.
• Violet the Pilot by Steve Breen – Violet builds elaborate flying machines.
• The Story of a Helicopter by Angela Royston and Philippe Dupasquier – Simple text and colourful drawings.
• Zog and the Flying Doctors by Julia Donaldson – The sequel to Zog.
• Wings Around the Globe by Bill Scollon – An exhilarating air race.
• Zephyr Takes Flight by Steve Light – Zephyr wants to fly her own plane.
• The Noisy Airplane Ride by Mike Downs – A rhyming tour of a plane.

Non-fiction

1. How People learned to Fly by Fran Hodgkins – The creative experiments people tried before the aeroplane was invented.
2. Planes by Fiona Patchett – Plenty of photos and simple text.
3. Planes by Byron Barton – This simple boardbook introduces children to aeroplanes’ many uses.

Key vocabulary

• Aeroplane, plane, helicopter, aircraft, aviation, flight, wings, pilot, cockpit, fuselage, engine, luggage, airport, helipad, take-off, landing, check in, passport, travel documents, visa, tickets, terminal, departure, arrival, flight path, long haul, destination, runway, overhead, rotor blade, tail, landing skids