I'm a big fan of Klutz's line of activity books, and I love paper crafts, so I was very excited to see their new Star Wars Folded Flyers book at Toy Fair in New York last February. In honor of Star Wars Week here at GeekMom, I finally took a look at the sample book they sent me and tried my hand at a paper Millennium Falcon.
Like all Klutz books, the Star Wars Folded Flyers book is much more than a toy. This big-format softcover explains the finer points of paper airplane construction and operation, as well as background on the Star Wars space vehicles. The book features six different models. In addition to Han Solo's baby, there's a Naboo Starfighter, a Jedi Starfighter, a BTL-B Y-Wing, a TIE Advanced X1, and a T-65 X-Wing.
The flyers themselves are made using full color pages that you tear out along the perforated line, trim a bit with scissors, and fold. You get five copies of each model, for a total of 30 flyers. While the finished products look complicated, between the illustrations in the book, and the lines and colored markings on the pages themselves, the many steps involved are hard to mess up. It took me about 15 minutes to put the Millennium Falcon together and ready it for its test flight.
How did it work? My son tried it out for me, getting it to cross the living room in just a few tries. With its rounded shape the Millennium Falcon glides more than rockets, but it made for a satisfactory paper flyer. (See the video below.) With a little more care to matching up corners and sharpening creases, I probably could have improved its aerodynamics a bit as well.
I like that this book works on so many levels. It's a nice little guide to Star Wars space vehicles, but it also brings in some of the science of flight. There's a lot of room for experimentation (in the angle of the wings and the flaps, for example), and the clever folding techniques are sure to spark kids' own inventiveness.
And I particularly like that you get multiple copies of each flyer. That way, there's extra chances to practice your folds. Or, if you have more than one Star Wars/paper plane enthusiast at home, there are extras to share.
All in all, the Klutz Star Wars Folded Flyers book is a great learning and activity resource that's sure to keep kids busy for hours!
