Make a Pteranodon Mobile Craft
by Karen & Grace Morris
It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s a Pteranodon mobile craft!
Here is a great decoration to hang from your bedroom’s ceiling.
These creatures had a wingspan over 20 feet! Don’t worry, yours will only going to be a few feet.
Pteranodon is a combination of two Greek words that mean wing and toothless. There are some flying creatures that do have teeth, like the Pterodactylus.
You will need;
- Green tissue paper
- Brown construction paper
- Three dowels
- Fishing line or some other kind of string
- Three twelve-inch brown pipe cleaners
- Tape
- Black marker
Directions for the Pteranodon Mobile Craft
First, you are going to want to make the hands. Take one of the pipe cleaners and fold down one of the ends about 1 1/2 inches. Twist to make a loop. Push the loop together.
Repeat, until you have three fingers. Use the extra piece of the pipe
cleaner to make the bottom loop. Put it on an end of a dowel. Tape the
bottom ring and middle finger, so it stays on the dowel.
Do the same to another pipe cleaner and dowel.
Now you need to make the feet. Take the last pipe cleaner and fold down about 1 inch. Twist to make a loop. Push loop together. Make another loop. Turn the foot around and make another loop facing the other way. Make one more loop. Use the extra piece of pipe cleaner to make a loop.
Put on an end of a dowel. Tape the bottom ring to the dowel, so it stays on.
With the tissue paper, make two wing shapes that can overlap each other. I made mine look kind of like a crescent moon or bat like wings. You will want the wings a little longer than a dowel. Overlap the two curve pieces and tape.
Tape the dowels with the hands to the wings. But do it so the hands stick out.
Make the Pteranodon body out of brown paper. It is wider at the top and pointy at the bottom to make a small tail.
Cut two long pieces of fishing line, both the same size. (This is no time to go fishing!). How long you cut the line will depend on how high you want your Pteranodon mobile craft to hang from the ceiling. On the dowel with the feet, tape your fishing line. Tape one piece line near the top and the other piece near the bottom.
Make two heads out of brown paper. (Two heads are better than one!) I made a curved horn at the top of the head and a needle like beak. In a minute, we will make the beak better. Make sure the heads are exactly the same and have a small neck.
Make an eye on the side of the head. (I can see!) Tape the dowel between the two heads. Tilt the heads some so that it makes a beak and tape at the neck. I had to tape one head directly to the dowel first, then the other head.
Tape the dowel to the body so that the feet are past the tail. Poke a hole in the paper for the string to go through. Now tape the body on the wings so that the head is above them. (I can fly!)
Doesn’t the Pteranodon mobile craft look like a glider? I have never flown before, so I can only imagine what it would be like to fly one of these creatures! I don’t recommend flying this guy, though. The tissue paper will not strong enough.
