I watched Mary Poppins yesterday and couldn't resist trying to make my own kite!! The one we made flew beautifully but died as it hit a tree. (Note to self - do not fly a kite close to trees). I didn't take any photos as my camera's battery decided to fail so I have pinched a couple of images of home made kites from google similar to the one we made.
I will show you how we made ours but you can design it however you like. This keeps the kids entertained and they can learn a bit of science when something they made is flying high and they've sent it soaring, up to the atmosphere, up where the air is clear, oh lets goooooooooooooo, fly a kite......... Sorry couldn't resist!
To make your own kite, you will need:
102cm Square Sheet of Brown Paper (I used parcel paper)
2 x 6mm Wooden Dowels (90cm long and 102cm long)
Ruler
Pencil
Scissors
String
Craft Knife/Stanley Knife
Pritt Stick/PVA
Wood Glue
50cm Nylon Cord
Paint, Ribbons and things to decorate
To start with, make a cross with the 2 sticks, with the shorter stick placed horizontally across the longer stick. Make sure both sides of the cross piece are equal in width.
Tie the two sticks together with the string in such a way to make sure that they are both at right angles to each other. Dab a bit of wood glue to stick it in place.
Cut a notch (with the help of a trusty adult) with the craft knife at each end of both sticks. Make it deep enough for the string. Cut a piece of string long enough to stretch around the kite frame. Wrap it around and knot it off at the final notch.
Cut two 15cm pieces of cord and knot each one into a loop. Tie one at the top of the kite and one at the bottom. Flatten out the brown paper and place the kite frame on top. Draw straight lines using a ruler around it, leaving a 3cm margin. Cut around carefully and fold the edges over gluing them in place nice and tight.
Cut a piece of string about 120cm long and tie one end to the loop at the top of the kite, and the other to the loop at the bottom. Tie another small loop in the string just above the intersection of the cross pieces where the flying line will go.
Make a tail for the kite by cutting off about a meter of cord and tying on small pieces of ribbon at regular intervals at about 10cm apart. Attach this tail to the bottom of the kite. The kite should be as light as possible so don't attach to much ribbon.
Decorate the kite with paint or pencils. We did a union jack!
Tie the free end of the rest of the nylon cord onto the centre loop. Keep the cord on its roll as this is the flying line and reel. Now go and fly your kite!
