Fun Friday – Flying STEM Toys

We all want to inspire our kids to learn and to be successful, and one shining example of this is Sabrina Paterski who built her own airplane at 13. While not everyone will have that opportunity or ability, one great way to inspire and teach our children is with some flight-themed STEM toys. While there have been many such toys over the years, we have a few favorites that emphasize the science and concepts behind flight and emphasize STEM skills.

First up is the Thames & Kosmos 551013 Flight Test Lab which features a small flying plane with circular wings. The experiments included help teach the concepts of how propellers work, air pressure and lift in addition to several others. Another great kit involving building a flying model is the 550020 Rubber Band Racers kit which was featured in yesterday’s blog. While you can build many different models, you can build a helicopter and an airplane which fly via rubber band power.

Thames & Kosmos makes a couple other flying kits. Thames & Kosmos 550014 Ultralight Airplanes which are made of plastic and bamboo. You can build five different types of gliders with different wing construction and learn how planes stay aloft. One of the more interesting kits is the Thames & Kosmos 550025 Flying Ornithopters. These are unique because they don’t fly by gliding or with propellers, but by flapping their wings like a bird. Kids can build four different models from bamboo and other materials. It’s a different take on flying machines and kids will definitely find it a fun kit.

As for kits that don’t fly, but are tangentially related to flight, there’s the Elenco EDU-38006 Solar Kit. This model is a solar model, one of which has a flight theme. Another solar model is an aeroplane which moves with solar power. Both kits teach the concepts of solar energy and look aesthetically pleasing when properly displayed.

Those are just a few fun toys involving flight, be sure to check them out and leave us product reviews for your favorites and tell us about your favorite on Facebook or Instagram!