Build a Glider, your paper airplane in a whole new way!

🎂 6 + years ⏱️ 20 min 📍 Everywhere ⭐ easy

Do you know paper airplanes that fly? This one glides. Very smoothly. With just paper, your fingers, and a bit of patience, you will build your own glider today. It's not a typical airplane with wings, but more like a ring that floats through the air. It doesn't fly very far, but it's beautiful. You can drop it from above. For example, from the stairs, from a loft bed, or simply from your arm. Ready? Then grab a square piece of paper and make your glider!

What you'll need

Square paper
Paper for the wing
A pair of scissors
Double-sided tape

How it works

Find a square piece of paper, so it's as wide as it is long. Fold it diagonally into a triangle. Press the crease down well with your fingers. Then unfold it. Now you can see the center line.
Take one corner and fold it to the center line. Then fold it again, back to the center. And again. Keep doing this until you have a narrow strip, about one centimeter thick. Always fold to the crease.
At the end, fold the entire strip outward, over the edge of the center crease. Press everything down nicely with your fingers to make it stable.
Now comes the tricky part: shape a circle. The two ends need to overlap. Carefully fit them together. This can be a bit fiddly, but with patience, it will work.
Now you need a second strip of paper, about 2–3 cm wide. Bend it slightly with your fingers so that it looks like an arch. Now take the double-sided tape. Stick it exactly where the ends meet.
Then stick the arch across the top of the ring, over the tape. Press it down well. And now: Try it out! Hold your glider with two fingers. Lift it above your head and let it glide gently.
The trick is: don't throw it, just let it glide! You can test it from a chair, a climbing frame, or a bed. What if you make two gliders and have them race against each other? Or you could make a mini glider from smaller paper?