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At Cubs last night we did some work towards our Air Activities Award. In a few weeks we are going to sit in a Vulcan Bomber, a VC10 and a Lancaster! Yes…that is how awesome Cubs is.
Anyhow. Last night we were making paper aeroplanes. To the massive surprise of all of the leaders none of the kids knew how to make even the most basic of paper dart. Even the smart ones (the girls) and “arty” ones (also the girls) didn’t have a clue. I’m pretty sure that most of them could set up my WiFi though.
What sort of generation are we brining up? I weep for the future.
To our credit though they can now climb with a harness on, use a bow and arrow and split wood with an axe without killing themselves or each other. I don’t think that they are ready to face down the zombie apocalypse just yet, but it is a start.
We bought a book that you take the pages out of and they're coloured planes/spaceships of various types and styles, could be a good idea to copy ?
They can't cope with anything without a USB socket.
Not on my watch.
All three panthercubs are adept in the ways of paper plane folding.
It's your duty as a parent.
They can cope. Someone just has to show them. I needed showing.
It was International Womens Day yesterday - that day of all days for singling out girls as 'smart' and 'arty'. Ritual social media offence taken!
😉
How flippin ace is your cubs with the upcoming planes trip.
I helped run a cubs/scout group for a bit, and we encouraged them all to buy a swiss army knife/gerber (you get the idea) they were kept under lock and key at the scout hut when the kids weren't there. 3 parents wrote to us withdrawing their kids from the group, one telling us that we were effectively teaching their child to be a soldier and encouraging violence, and one went as far to say that she was reporting us to the district scout leader for endangering lives.
now that made me weep for the future...
My son would've been able to make a paper plane, in multiple formats... He wouldn't be able to do the wood chopping bit though. Well as far as I know he hasn't wielded an axe.
So I have won at being a parent then? Both my 8 yr old girls can (and do) make paper planes regularly. One of them writes notes in hers then throws them to us (I think she got this from Harry Potter).
🙂
For a hardcore paper plane education, might I suggest Glasgow College of Building and Printing ( the tall building on the right) where generations of students have been tempted by the fortuitous combination of technical drawing classrooms on the top floor with a ready supply of A0 sized paper and opening windows which face onto the inviting target of the courtyard of Ernst & Young's building below and George Square beyond...
It was International Womens Day yesterday – that day of all days for singling out girls as ‘smart’ and ‘arty’. Ritual social media offence taken!
It was a complement, as they aren't as daft or inept as the boys. Both my son and daughter are in the pack. He is the oldest, she is the youngest.
We're a new pack. Our first camp was last year so we introduced them to fire, axes, "wide games", running about in the woods in the dark, climbing trees and so on*. It was magical watching them experience all of this stuff for the first time.
Several parents said afterwards that they were nervously sat by the phone waiting for the call to come and collect their kids as they were hating it.
It was quite sad that some wouldn't come because we had a ban on phones and tablets.
*Risk Assessment submitted to the DC in advance. Obvs.
Do you have a Beavers group Harry?
If not, know of any local?
Nice work btw. Loved the Cubs and Scouts.
We do, and a new Scout Troop that met for the first time last night.
I'm not involved with the Beavers, but DM me and I'll send details. From what I can gather their are a few "colonies" in the district.
tbh if you asked me to make a paper "dart" I'd look at ye as if you had 2 heids on too.
I thought it was called a "Paper Airyplane"?
How flippin ace is your cubs with the upcoming planes trip
[scoutbrag] The scout group I've started helping at (soon to get officially woggled-up and evryfink) will be taking a trip to the flight simulators at Brize Norton 🙂 [/scoutbrag]
Good stuff. We had our lot at the Manchester BMX track last year. My lad very nearly crapped himself.
3 parents wrote to us withdrawing their kids from the group, one telling us that we were effectively teaching their child to be a soldier and encouraging violence, and one went as far to say that she was reporting us to the district scout leader for endangering lives.
...parents don't want knives at their kids [s]creche[/s] cub/scout group! What were you thinking - you'll have them getting disease from the mud in the woods next.
My view on it is that we should give them experiences that they will never get at home or in school, within the bounds of common sense and our approved RAs.
On this year's camp we will probably have them on an air gun range and abseiling.
Paper aeroplane night was brilliant. After the usual 10 minutes of cocking about and "I can't do it" they started to listen. At the end of the night most of them took their creations home with them, so they must have been proud of their achievements.
When the biggest (or littlest) PITA in the pack comes up to show you what he has made you have won.
Flying your paper plane into an open fire.
That was our entertainment in the 70s.
Flying your paper plane into an open fire.
That was our entertainment in the 70s
If it was Christmas Day or our birthday, our parents, if we were very lucky, would actually light the fire first.
I used to make them out of Rizlas. Not even the king size ones which were for extra long tobacco cigarettes, no, the regular Rizlas.
Try that with them.
For a hardcore paper plane education, might I suggest Glasgow College of Building and Printing ( the tall building on the right) where generations of students have been tempted by the fortuitous combination of technical drawing classrooms on the top floor with a ready supply of A0 sized paper and opening windows which face onto the inviting target of the courtyard of Ernst & Young’s building below and George Square beyond…
I also found the James Weir building on Montrose Street was equally effective, perhaps the updraft created by the steep hill meant those 1st Mechanical Engineering students has somewhere to apply their practical skills and cartridge paper was better than drafting paper..
What sort of generation are we brining up?
If you're going to immerse cubs in salt water, expect more complaints.
Sorry for the OT but does anybody know how to make a Stukka dive bomber?
The only step I remember was folding a diagonal across the a4 sheet, then folding horizontally across to make a square. Then tearing the bit left behind to make the tail.
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The end result being something like this, blue bit being the tail made from the strip
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My grandad used to make them, but I can't remember how and he has parkinsons/dementure so he can't explain it to me. It was a properly awesome paper aeroplane, used to fly horizontally then suddenly drop down vertically like a real dive bomber.
Fold the big square twice diagonally, fold the the small strip in half and then to a point at one end and slip in to the big one, fold the big pointed end over then fold the whole thing in half down its central axis then fold the wings down. My dad taught me to make them when I was little.
Did it look like this? ( except not out of Post-it notes?)
Cheers catfood, I'll give that a go!
Yes it did look roughly like that perchypanther
I taught my daughter how to make them a few years ago, just the bog standard dart-shaped version.
Sister-in-law's BF (an aeronautics student) visited the other week and comprehensively upstaged me with three different varieties, two of which flew really well.
Next day my daughter was teaching me where to put the weight to make them work best.
🙂
That origam one is much posher (and better) than my version, just made one for the first time in years, looked better than it flew.
Possibly the best thing I got out of an aeronautics degree was the paper plane design that came inside the prospectus for the course at Sheffield. I didn't go there but that stuck with me far better than some of the things I was supposed to learn!
I agree with the idea that Scouts (cubs/beavers) should offer some different things and it sounds like yours is brilliant! I'm not involved anymore though- kids that didn't want to do anything beyond play football, feeling like running a creche, and a district training team that seemed custom built to put off anyone who didn't share exactly their opinions on how things should be done just broke my enthusiasm. I didn't want to do it if I didn't want to do it if that makes sense?
Make this one:
As mentioned before.
I unleased that one on them last night 😀
I was making them with my four year old last week. Love a good paper aeroplane and he was ecstatic
<p>If they went ape at knives I dread to think what the result would be if you tried bell target shooting.</p>
3 parents wrote to us withdrawing their kids from the group, one telling us that we were effectively teaching their child to be a soldier and encouraging violence, and one went as far to say that she was reporting us to the district scout leader for endangering lives.
It certainly does, I feel an overwhelming desire to punch such stupid people in the face.
Hard.
Repeatedly.
I helped run a cubs/scout group for a bit, and we encouraged them all to buy a swiss army knife/gerber
One of my brothers kids had joined the scouts so my initial thoughts for their birthday was a knife. Apparently the local group would have rather disapproved of it so had to give it a miss.
For the OP. I am not sure what it says about me that "paper dart" brings to mind the more dubious combination of "paper + Plasticine + drawing pin" to give a homemade dart which inevitably ended up being used in less than safe ways.
I run a club at school called "The Academy of Danger". My head was having kittens about my letter saying that the children would be taking part in activities that could lead to them getting hurt, embarassed or that they might actually fail at. Not one parent batted an eye lid and all were perfectly happy.
We had a pilot a plane afternoon. This website was invaluable as my repertoire of two different designs were the ones the kids already knew... http://www.foldnfly.com/#/1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-2
They've made catapults, sawed wood, had a fight (staged)... Our next few weeks all involve fire.
I often explain the process of making simple paper aircraft (basic origami) to my kids.
"Now children" I say, "the process is two-fold...."
Oh how they laugh
I'm liking the sound of “The Academy of Danger”. If you get the chance, Axe Throwing is great fun.
One of the physics teachers at school got making vortex tube paper planes with kids just before Christmas so when they came down to the techie department I figured we might as well just carry on where they left off - does need straws too.
I went to see Ben Folds a couple of weeks ago. For the second half, the audience was given pen & paper to write requests on, make a paper plane & throw it at the stage. He then played whatever was on the plane he picked up. Brilliant concert
With 3 young boys there is generally a whole squadron of various paper planes dotted around the house, along with homemade bows and arrows, bits of wood with slate wedged into the ends as axes etc. I've also just came across a homemade catapult sitting on the kitchen window, makes me proper proud!
One of their favourite books is the copy of The Dangerous Book for Boys the missus picked up in a secondhand shop, the section on girls in there is very funny!