Before the meeting:

1. Learn about making paper airplanes with Scout Life Magazine “Make Your Paper Airplane Soar With These Tips.”
2. Make a paper airplane to use as an example.
3. Identify an area in your meeting location that is safe and free of obstacles for Cub Scouts to fly paper airplanes.

During the meeting:

1. Gather the Cub Scouts and adult partners and share that this activity is about force. Inform the den that force is an action that changes or maintains the motion of a body or object. Simply stated, a force is a push or a pull. Forces can change an object’s speed, its direction, and even its shape.
2. Inform the den they will explore motion by making paper airplanes.
3. To demonstrate this, have everyone take a piece of paper and crumble it up into a tight ball, as tight as they can. Explain that friction can be thought of as when there is something that is keeping something from moving. When two things are rubbing against each other it causes friction. When you throw the paper ball the air keeps the ball from moving forward forever and gravity is what causes the ball to drop to the ground.
4. Have everyone throw their paper balls in the designated area.
5. Explain that when we make a paper airplane, we can reduce the friction, the force that is pushing against the plane, because the plane is smooth so there are fewer places for the air to push against. Gravity is still going to push down on the plane but since we reduce the ability for the air to push against the plane it will take longer causing the plane to stay in the air longer.
6. Demonstrate how to make a paper airplane, if Cub Scouts or adult partners know how to make a different plane that is OK.
7. Have adult partners work with their Cub Scouts to make a paper airplane.
8. When everyone is finished have them fly their paper airplanes.