A model helicopter made out of an egg carton, painted red.

Ages 5-10 | 60 mins | Craft | Screen Free

Make your own helicopter

What You'll  Need: 

  • Egg carton
  • Brads
  • Heavy weight paper, card stock, or old greeting card
  • Push pin or thumbtack
  • Scissors
  • Glue
  • Tape

Modified from The Craft Train

1. Cut out one egg cup and one attached long piece from the larger egg carton.  

 

A piece of an egg carton cut away from the carton.

2. Bend the long section around and secure it to the top of the cup to create the tail and cab of the helicopter.

3. Use glue to secure the two sections together. You can use a piece of masking tape to hold it in place while the glue dries. 

A piece of an egg carton cut away and bent in half.

4. Cut two small nubs from the edges of the egg carton.

These will hold the rotors to the top and back. 

A small nub of an egg carton cut away from it.

5. Paint all of the egg carton pieces. 

You can paint a large white windshield on the front of the helicopter cab. 

6. Set this aside to dry.    

This shows parts of a helicopter made out of egg carton, painted red and white.

7. Cut 2 small strips of card (about ¼ inch wide and 2 inches long). 

These will be the top rotors.

8. Use a push pin to poke a hole in the egg carton nub and in the middle of the two strips.

Mini-propellers are made out of crossed strips of construction paper and brads.

9. Place the strips on top of the nub and insert the brad through all three holes. 

10. Turn the nub over and secure the brad inside.

You’ve just made your top rotor assembly. 

11. Glue the rotor assembly onto the top of the helicopter cab.  

Now you'll repeat this for the back rotors. 

12 . Cut 2 more small strips of card (about ¼ inch wide and 2 inches long).

These will be the back rotors.

13. Use a push pin to poke a hole in the egg carton nub and in the middle of the two strips.

14. Place the strips on top of the nub and insert the brad through all three holes.

15. Turn the nub over and secure the brad inside.

You’ve just made your back rotor assembly. 

16. Glue the tail rotor to one side of the tail. 

Your helicopter is complete! Where will you fly? 

A model helicopter made out of an egg carton, painted red and black.

17. Optional: Design landing gear. 

To land safely, helicopters need landing gear. They can be wheels, skids (rails) or even floats.

Take a look at real helicopters. Then, create landing gear for your helicopter using materials you have in your home, like toothpicks, chopsticks or pipe cleaners.

 

The bottom view of a helicopter taking off.

A U.S. Marine Corps UH-1N Huey helicopter takes off from the flight deck of the USS Kearsarge at sea, July 13, 2013.

See More Helicopters

We want to hear from you!

Optional

Meet Real Helicopter Pilots

Portrait of French General Valerie Andre holding flight helmet in front of a helicopter

Valérie André

Valérie André was a French doctor for the Air Force who learned how to fly a helicopter in the 1950s so she could help wounded soldiers in war zones. She was the first women to fly a helicopter into a combat zone.

In 1976, she was became a General Office in the French forces, the first woman to receive this ranking.

She lived to 102.

For Grown Ups: More About André

A Black woman in a vest stands in the foreground and smiles at the camera, a red helicopter is in the background.

La'Shanda Holmes

Lieutenant Commander La'Shanda Holmes is a helicopter pilot for the U.S. Coast Guard.

She has flown over 2,000 hours conducting search and rescue, law enforcement, and protecting the President's airplane.

Lieutenant Commander Holmes became the first woman African American helicopter pilot for the Coast Guard in 2010.

About This Learning Resource

Age and Grade

Age: 5-10

Grade: K-5

Subject and Topics

Engineering

Aviation
Aircraft
Vertical Flight
Helicopters

Duration

60 mins

Usage Rights

You are free to use this resource for personal and educational purposes, with attribution. (CC BY-NC)

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