Originally Posted by
alpenrose
Hi all--thank you so much for your insights. I live in MSO. We have several flights a day that come in from DEN and SEA. We do get a lot of air force traffic and fire fighting equipment. The runway takes off over a large hayfield. Next to the hayfield is a large development. The kids in that development have no place to play and are never seen outside. My thought was maybe to get folks interested in plane spotting out there by the hayfield. Gotta, gotta, gotta do something to get kids outside again!
In the computer age, many kids are not pursuing outside activities with the same fervor that we did many years ago when the television had only 5 channels and you had to open the hi-fi and put on a record if you wanted music.
If you want to get kids interested in airplanes, I think it would help greatly to have a knowledgeable and enthusiastic adult along to explain it all. When I grew up jets were still a novelty and adults - my mom included - were just as interested in them as kids. I definitely embraced my mom's excitement for travel in both destination and means. We would go out and park along the east/west runway at Denver's Stapleton and see if we could guess what kind of plane would be landing next.
Her excitement was key though and that's why I emphasize
Enthusiastic. Someone who doesn't know or care all that much about airplanes but is just taking the kids out near the runway because it seems like a good idea to teach the kids about planes will probably just end up with a bunch of bored kids who can't wait to get back to their computer games.
Excitement and enthusiasm is contagious. Good luck!