A paper airplane classroom competition is a great way to teach comparatives and superlatives in ESL. This challenge allows students to actually use the language… instead of just filling in blanks on a worksheet.

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For generations, paper planes have been the unofficial symbol of student distraction. I know some teachers might cringe at the idea of dozens of paper airplanes flying around the room. Fear not!

With a little planning and structure, the paper airplane challenge can be a surprisingly effective grammar lesson.

And—spoiler alert—the students absolutely LOVE it!

How It Works

Students design their own airplanes, test them, and compare competition results using real language:

• “Our plane went farther than theirs.”
• “That one was faster.”
• “This is the most stylish design.”

Students won’t realize they’re internalizing grammar- they’re just trying to design the best plane!

I’ve outlined the steps to hosting a paper planes challenge in your classroom below.

Step 1: Start with a Quick Grammar Review

Before the competition begins, I like to run through a short review of comparative and superlative grammar.

The focus is on the adjectives that will be used during the activity:

Comparative and superlative forms of:

• faster, the fastest
• heavier, the heaviest
• farther, the farthest
• better, the best
• more stylish, the most stylish

Here’s a sneak peek of my presentation slides.

Step 2: Build the Paper Airplanes

Next, students fold their airplanes.

Sometimes I’ll show them the special way I was taught to fold paper airplanes by my grandfather. Other times, we watch a tutorial on YouTube. Many times, students already come prepared with their own cutting-edge methods of folding.

This part turns the lesson into a mini STEM challenge, because students start thinking about questions like:

• Whose design will fly farther?
• Will a bigger wing make the plane faster or slower?

Students are already predicting outcomes—and using comparison language before the competition even starts.

Step 3: Run the Competition

Once the planes are ready, the competition begins.

Students launch their airplanes and we record results in categories such as:

• Distance – Which plane flew the farthest?
• Speed – Which plane reached the ground fastest?
• Style – Which design looks the most creative?

This is where the room gets loud (in a good way). Students cheer, laugh, and immediately start comparing results:

• “That one went farther than mine!”
• “Your second plane is better.”
• “That is the fastest plane so far.”

Grammar practice suddenly feels very real. Look for opportunities to correct students during the interactions. (i.e., not more higher, just higher.)

Step 4: Turn Results Into Real Communication

One of my favorite parts of this activity is the data analysis afterward.

I built some responsive data charts on Canva to quickly enter student or team results.

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Now the discussion becomes more meaningful:

• “Team Blue flew farther than Team Green.”
• “This plane had the highest distance average.”
• “Most students chose the triangle wing style.”

Students aren’t just practicing grammar—they’re using it to talk about real results.

Why Students Love The Paper Airplane Classroom Competition

The paper airplane challenge brings energy, laughter, and just enough friendly competition to keep everyone engaged. Students get to:

• build something cool
• experiment
• compete
• move around
• talk about what happened

And because the language is connected to the activity, the grammar practice feels natural.

Students will remember the lesson long after their flights, because they can connect it to real use.

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Have you done a paper airplane activity at your school? I’d love to hear how it went! Leave your thoughts in the comments, and I’ll be sure to read them.

Have a great flight and happy teaching!