Paper Helicopter

Three spinning paper helicopters from one sheet. Each strip is 1⅜ × 8¼ in: a cut at the top and two blades bent in opposite directions, a three-layer weight at the bottom. Release it from up high — it spins and floats gently down.

• Easy
• 3 helicopters
• 1 Letter sheet
• 0 glue

Make it with your phone cameraLesson code: 8741

On VanGami the template appears over your sheet through your phone camera — no printer needed. Trace it, cut, fold and glue. Below are all the steps in text.

What you’ll need

• Letter sheet — office paper, 80 gsm (20 lb)
• Markers
• Pencil — and eraser
• Ruler — 8–12 in
• Scissors — small
• Paper clips — 3 pcs, just in case
• Glass — phone stand

Steps

Trace

1. Three strips. Trace three identical strips with a ruler: 1⅜ × 8¼ in each. The straighter the edges, the smoother the flight.
2. Cut line. The line down the middle of each strip, running 3½ in down from the top edge, is also solid. You’ll cut along it between the blades.
3. Fold. Each strip has three dashed fold lines: one at the end of the cut and two near the bottom. The left half of the top line is dash-dot — that blade folds toward you.

Color

4. Yellow. The paper is white, but these parts should be this color: color them in completely, up to the outline. Move the marker in one direction.
5. Red tips and bottom stripe. Color the areas that match this color. Move the marker in one direction — you’ll get fewer streaks.

Cut

6. Cut out: strip — 3 pcs. Cut out the three strips along the solid lines. Between neighboring strips there’s a narrow scrap — cut along both lines. Leave the middle line alone for now.
7. Center cut. Cut each strip along the middle line — from the top edge to the dashed line, no farther. That makes two blades.

Fold

8. Weight. Hold the strip cut end up, lines facing you. Fold the bottom edge back along the lowest dashed line, then once more along the second one, through the middle of the red stripe: that makes a three-layer weight.
9. Blades in opposite directions. Hold the strip with the lines facing you and fold the blades along the dashed line at the end of the cut: the left one toward you, the right one away from you. From the side, the helicopter looks like the letter “T”.
10. Two more helicopters. Fold the other two strips the same way: a three-layer weight, blades in opposite directions.

Launch

11. How to hold. Hold the helicopter with two fingers right under the blades, weight down, and raise your arm as high as you can.
12. Let go. Just open your fingers — don’t throw it. The blades will lift on their own, and the helicopter will spin and float gently down.
13. All three. Launch all three one after another — each spins at its own pace. Bend the blades the other way and the helicopter will spin in the opposite direction.

Done. Your three helicopters are done. Launch them from up high: the higher you go, the longer they spin.

Make it with your phone camera

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