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Which wings?

Become a high flyer in this matching game – can you figure out how and why the aircraft fly?

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You’ll need

  • Scissors
Aircraft images and facts
PDF – 280.4KB
Download Aircraft images and facts
Aircraft Images
PDF – 136.3KB
Download Aircraft Images

Before you begin

  • Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. There’s also more guidance to help you carry out your risk assessment including examples.
  • Make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
  • Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help.   
  • This is a great activity to run during an online session. Check out the advice on using Zoom and other popular digital platforms and the guidance on being safe online.

Planning and setting up this activity

  • You can choose to use the ‘Aircraft Image’ resource or the ‘Images and facts’ resource, depending on what’s most suitable for your group.
  • Print out the sheets, with one for each group. You need to cut each image, name or fact separately, so they can be mixed up.
  • Make sure to keep one copy complete for the answers and keep it hidden.

Play the game

  1. Get into small groups.
  2. Give each group a copy of the cards.
  3. Ask groups to try to match the aircraft images with the right name and facts. 
  4. If anyone is struggling, you can read out the clues.
  5. When a group thinks they’ve finished, they should tell the person leading the activity. 
  6. Check to see if the group has got everything right or if they need to swap some things around. It’s up to you how much you tell them. Will you just tell them it’s not all correct, give them some hints about which are wrong, or tell them exactly which ones need to change?
  7. Alternatively, you could wait until the end and read out the right answers, allowing the players to correct their own. 
  8. Once finished, ask the group to talk about the cards, pictures, names and facts. Did they know any of the information already? Have they seen any of these aircraft before? Which one is their favourite, and why?

Reflection

This game needed you to problem-solve. How did you start putting the facts together? Were there some you could match right away? Which ones were trickier? How did you figure out which ones went together? Did you need some clues from the person leading the game? How did they help?

This game also needed you to be a team player. Did your team work well together? How did you talk to each other? What did you do if people disagreed on any answers? Did you make sure everyone got a chance to have their say?

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

You must run your activities in line with the Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card) and report any concerns to the UK HQ Safeguarding Team.

To make this activity easier, you can give out the clues. It’s up to you how much of the groups you give.

  • People can work in pairs or small groups as needed. If needed, bigger groups can be used to make sure everyone feels supported and can take part. Depending on what works best, everyone could also work together as one big group. An adult or young leader should always be available to help and support everyone.
  • Make sure everyone can understand the story, scenario, text, play, or book by using large, easy-to-read fonts, simple words, and adding images. If someone struggles with reading, they can work with a friend, young leader, or adult.
  • Always encourage people to ask if they don’t understand any words.
  • For those with dyslexia, light-coloured paper (such as cream or pale pink) or coloured overlays can make reading easier.
  • Some people find it hard to sit still or stay quiet for a while. They might like to use things such as fidget toys, colouring, weighted blankets, or wobble cushions to help. You could include movement breaks in your activities or provide a supervised space for people to move around safely.

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Air Activities Stage 1

If people do some more research on these aircraft, this activity could meet requirement two of the stage two Air Activities Staged Activity Badge. For example, you could find out the main parts of an aeroplane and identify them, collect and identify six pictures of different aircraft, and name and identify different types of aircraft.