Make a flapping bat

With our Design & Technology and Engineering KS2 lesson plan teaching resource, learners will find out about the history of Halloween and why bats are an important by creating a simple mechanism by making a flapping bat.

In this classroom activity learners will make use of the theme of Halloween to make a flapping bat decoration. They will learn about the history of Halloween and why bats are an important part of it. They will then learn how to make a simple mechanism for a flapping bat. Finally, they will test and adjust their flapping bat and observe how it works.

This teaching resource activity could be used as a main lesson activity to teach about basic marking out, testing and model making skills. It could also be used as part of wider scheme of learning focussed on designing and making products within a Halloween-themed context, alongside other IET Halloween themed resources.

We’ve created this Design & Technology teaching resource activity to support the delivery of key topics within Design & Technology and Engineering.

Activity: Making a flapping bat for a Halloween decoration

Learners will make use of the theme of Halloween to develop their knowledge and understanding in Design & Technology and Engineering and make a flapping bat to decorate their home or classroom.

Tools/supplies needed:

Resources required:

• Printed template
• Good quality card (corrugated or grey card)
• String
• Small change, 1p or 2p pieces, washers or small weights
• Scissors
• Sticky tape
• A stick to hold the bat
• Black paint
• Pencil
• Googly eyes (optional)
• Craft knife

Follow our step-by-step guide to make a flapping bat

Step 1 ⚠

• Cut the shapes out of the template
• Don’t forget that you will need two wings

Step 2

• Holding the templates still, draw round them onto the card or cardboard

Step 3 ⚠

• Cut out your shapes, taking care to follow the line
• If you are using a craft knife, be very careful and do your cutting on a tough surface, like an old chopping board

Step 4 ⚠

• Paint your shapes
• Let the shapes dry before you put them together

Step 5

• Stick the wings onto the body, making sure they line up
• The bases of the wings should follow a line like the one marked as dotted on the template
• Fold the wings in the opposite direction and attach another piece of tape

Step 6 ⚠

• Make a hole in the ‘chest’ of your bat
• Use about 600 mm of string to loop through the hole
• Tie at the top and make a loop at the bottom

Step 7 ⚠

• Using the rest of the string, make two big loops (500 mm of string each) and loop them through the notches in the wings

Testing 1

• Thread the two loops onto a stick or tree branch
• It will probably hang a little like this with its wings up and body hanging down
• Gently pull and release the string attached to the body to make it flap the wings
• It needs some weights to make it hang better and work more like a bat

Step 8

• There are two places to add weight:
  • the tips of the wings
  • the end of the hanging loop
• Use some sticky tape so you can move the weights around
• Use pennies and 2p pieces or similar
• Experiment as your bat might not be the same as everyone else’s

Testing 2

• Try the flapping bat again
• You might have to adjust the weights by using 2p pieces instead of 1p pieces
• You might have to move the weights on the wings further out or in
• You might have to move the weights backwards or forwards
• This sort of testing is used in industry all the time
• It is called iterative testing, where you test, improve and retest several times

Finished flapping bat

• Add googly eyes or stickers to make your bat look special

Extension

• Make another bat from thin painted plywood to make it more weatherproof
• Cut out shapes to make another type of animal - for example, birds or pterodactyls
• Research more about bats and how they act

The Engineering Context

Engineers can learn a lot from nature in terms of how to design and make products and structures. For example, how bats fly and ‘see’ in the dark – this is similar to the principles of sonar and radar. Iterative design is a key strategy for engineers to use when designing and producing ideas for products.

Suggested learning outcomes

This resource combines Design and Technology with Engineering, with the aim learners will be able to understand the origins of Halloween and how it is celebrated today; be able to make a flapping bat decoration for Halloween; be able to test and balance the bat decoration to make it work well; and understand how iterative design works and is how it is used.

Download our activity sheet and other teaching resources

All classroom activity sheets and supporting teaching resources are free to download, and all the documents are fully editable, so you can tailor them to your students’ and your schools’ needs.

The activity sheet includes teachers’ notes, useful web links, and links (where appropriate) to the national curriculum in each of the four devolved nations; England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

You can download our step-by-step instructions below as a classroom lesson plan and PowerPoint presentation.

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