Airplane Books & Activities

Transportation has evolved so much, even in the last decade! If your kids love airplanes or even other forms of transportation, there are a ton of great airplane books that you could incorporate into your classroom! All of these books have a focus on airplanes, but they could also work if you were looking for a few stories that go with a transportation theme as well.

Below are some of the airplane books we’ve enjoyed reading and a couple activities we’ve done to go along with an airplane or transportation theme.

GET A FULL WEEK OF TRANSPORTATION THEME ACTIVITIES IN OUR  PRESCHOOL TRANSPORTATION LESSON PLANS.

Favorite Airplane Books for Kids

The Noisy Airplane Ride by Mike Downs

The Noisy Airplane Ride introduces kids to some of the sounds they might hear on an airplane ride. It’s also great for discussing rhyme and onomatopoeia

A Plane Goes Ka-Zoom! by Jonathan London

A Plane Goes Ka-Zoom! tells kids about different kinds of planes and the ways they are used.

Airplanes: Soaring! Diving! Turning! by Patricia Hubbell

Airplanes: Soaring! Diving! Turning! is another books that teaches kids about different kinds of planes and the jobs they do. It’s also great for discussing action words and word choice.

Miss Mouse Takes Off by Jan Ormerod

Miss Mouse, a doll, tells about her adventure going on a plane ride with her best friend.

Lisa’s Airplane Trip by Anne Gutman

Lisa’s Airplane Trip is about Lisa’s trip to the United States flying all alone.

Airplane Flight!: A Lift-the-Flap Adventure by Susanna Leonard Hill

Airplane Flight!: A Lift-the-Flap Adventure was perfect for my toddler. She loved the rhyming text and enjoyed lifting the flaps again and again.

Lettice, the Flying Rabbit by Mandy Stanley

Lettice, the Flying Rabbit is about Lettice, a rabbit who wants to fly. The story of how she does is very cute and a bit of a surprise for little ones.

Air Show! by Treat Williams

Air Show! is about two young kids who travel to an air show in their Dad’s plane. The get to see many different kinds of planes and take a special ride on one of them.

Going on a Plane by Anne Civardi

Going on a Plane is a simple story that follows a family through the airport and on a plane ride. It’s a simple text that is great for a child’s first plane ride.

Airport by Byron Barton

Airport is another book that’s helpful for first-time plane riders. It explores all of the things a child might see and do upon arriving to the airport and preparing for flight.

Amazing Airplanes by Tony Mitton

Amazing Airplanes is a great book to teach your kids all about airplanes and flying! 

The Big Book of Airplanes by DK

From space shuttles to the standard commercial airplanes, your kids will love learning about them all in The Big Book of Airplanes.

National Geographic Readers: Planes by Amy Shields

In National Geographic Readers: Planes, a famous pilot will help narrate the story to teach your kids all about history’s great planes.

Violet the Pilot by Steve Breen

Violet the Pilot is a fun story about a young science-loving girl who wants to create a great plane for an upcoming air show! Violet is a great role model for kids and teaches them that they can do anything!

Are there any other airplane books that your kids love? Tell us about them in the comments!

Fun Airplane Activities

After reading some of these favorite airplane books together, try a few airplane activities to extend the fun and learning.

Make and fly paper airplanes-We used Super Simple Paper Airplanes and the Kids’ Paper Airplane Book to test out quite a few different paper airplanes. Lovey had a ball flying them in our backyard and down our stairs. I’ve never really made different versions of paper airplanes, so I had a lot of fun testing them them out, too!

Watch real airplanes take off and land-We used to live very close to a small airport, and we loved finding a safe place to watch from a distance while we had a picnic lunch.

Watch videos of airplanes-There are tons of great YouTube videos for kids to watch. I Love Airplanes is a cute video specifically made for kids. A quick search of airplane take offs, airplane landings, or airplane stunts, should also give you a great selection to choose from. Just remember to pre-screen anything before sharing with your kids, just in case.

Airplane Pretend Play-Since we’ve started reading more about airplanes, I’ve noticed quite a bit of airplane pretend play. One day the girls set up our dining room chairs to make their own airplane for pretend play. Another day I found all of the members of the dollhouse family set up in a small box on an “airplane” ride.  You can help set up a similar invitation to play, too.

What other airplane activities do your kids enjoy?

PRINTABLE TRANSPORTATION THEME LESSON PLANS

Save time and get right to the playful learning with our printable lesson plan sets. We have a variety of lesson plan sets that work well as winter themes. Each set includes over 30 playful learning activities related to the theme, and we’ve provided different versions for home preschool families and classroom teachers so all activities are geared directly toward your needs.

Use cars, trucks, trains, and planes for a week full of hands-on math, reading, & science learning activities for a preschool transportation theme. Watch this short video to see just a few examples of the types of activities and printables included in this set:

GET YOUR LESSON PLANS

Also available on Teachers Pay Teachers.