Make Your Own Kites

We’ve had some beautiful spring days over the past few weeks. My girls have seen some kites flying around during these nice days and have expressed some interest in having a kite of their own. I decided that now was the time to make a kite with them that might actually fly.

We’ve made kites in the past…small ones of computer paper, straws, and ribbon. None big enough to attempt to actually fly…until now…

 To make a kite of your own you’ll need:

• Newspaper
• Some kind of string or ribbon
• Glue
• Straight sticks about 2-3 feet long

Step 1)  Look for sticks.  We found a jackpot on a fallen tree branch in our neighbor’s yard!

Step 2)  Use your string to tie the sticks into a cross.  You’ll want the horizontal stick to be slightly shorter than the vertical stick.

Step 3)  String your string around the sticks.  You may have to cut small notches in the end of the sticks to help the string stay in place.

Step 4)  Unfold your newspaper and cut a pattern to match the shape of your kite frame.  Make it an inch or two larger than your frame so you can fold it over.

Step 5)  Glue the newspaper over your stick frame by folding the edges over your string.  (Our glue bottle got clogged so my girls had to use Q-tips to spread their glue)

Step 6)  Your finished kite will look like the above photo.  Tie a long string to the kite where the sticks cross.

Step 7)  Grab the string, run a little, and attempt to get your kite to fly!

Our kite did fly for a few minutes until the wind died down, it took a nose-dive to the ground, and a stick broke.

A few words of caution: Do not be dumb like me and attempt to make your kite outside on a windy day.  It was very difficult to work with the newspaper as it always tried to fly away.  Also, my girls did require a lot of help in stringing their kite.  I ended up doing most of that part.

Do your kids like kites?