I made helicopter sliders for letter recognition and fine motor development. I printed the patterns on cardstock paper ... cut them out and then laminated them.
Using and x-acto knife I sliced along the two lines on the helicopter. Taking one of the letter strips I pushed the left end up through the right slice of the helicopter and pulled it down through the left slice.
In this activity children pull the letter strips through the helicopter and read the letter that is displayed in the center of the helicopter. Once all letters have been identified on the strip a new strip is put in.
As of 2022 this activity can be found in the member's section which is also where I have added Helicopter Number Sliders.