Flying Superhero Photos

This activity is taken from “Let’s Go Live with Maddie & Greg”, a live family science show on YouTube!

View the full episode this activity is taken from on YouTube

“We love this activity because the final photos pack a superhero PUNCH!”

Materials you could use

A blue tarpaulin sheet/bedsheet

Cardboard boxes

Black pen/marker

White foam material

Ladder

Camera

Method

Safety first!

If you go up the ladder yourself to set up your photo then make sure someone is holding the bottom steady!

This activity is all about creating the illusion you are flying over a city!

1. Lay a background sheet on the floor - we used a blue tarpaulin for the sky but you could use a black background for space or anything else you want to try!

2. Take your cardboard boxes and use the black pen to make them look like buildings in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Lay them on your background material. (You could use any props you like to make your scene)

3. Cut your white foam material into fluffy cloud shapes and place them above your buildings to finish your city scape. Perhaps you could cut out stars and planets for a space scene? Use your imagination!

4. Dress up as a superhero and ask a friend or grown-up to help position you so it looks as if you are flying! It can help to take the photo from a high position so you may want to ask a grown-up to carefully stand on a chair or a ladder to get the best picture.

We had a lot of fun making our superhero photos but you could use this activity with lots of different themes. You could zoom through space like an astronaut or soar like a bird above a jungle?! Use this activity to lead into discussions about what humans would need to be able to fly, thinking about characteristics of birds and insects. Or just have some fun with it and use this to end a topic and do some fun presentations!

Our favourite fact

9th-century engineer Abbas Ibn Firnas is reported to be the first human to ‘fly’ with the help of a pair of wings built by silk, wood and real feathers!