How To Make A Kite

By Leeanne Utiger
So you want to know how to make a kite. I am going to detail for you how to make a kite for the children, or in fact the children can help you make a kite. So due to the kite I am going to talk about, it is not going to be anything intricate. This is a kite I can teach you how to make as a past time or a fun activity for you to take part in with your children, and we all know that playing with our children is a big part to them growing up and feeling loved.

First of all you will need a few things on hand. You will need some bamboo sticks, cut at varying lengths, some masking tape, scissors and either newspaper or a rubbish bag, whichever you prefer. Ask your children what they want to use. You can even opt for plain brown paper that the children can decorate, or paint. You will also need some string.

Now to begin with, when you are learning how to make a kite, it is best to find yourself a rather large working area to do this in. Possibly outside if it is a nice sunny day. Get your bamboo sticks, which you should have different lengths. You will need to have one long piece of bamboo stick and one shorter piece of bamboo stick. Place the longer piece running vertically and then lay the shorter piece of bamboo stick across horizontally. This is forming the brace (we will call it) for your kite. You can get your children to help you now in learning how to make the kite. It is easier if you have the children to hold the bamboo sticks in place, while you take the masking tape and wind it around the center cross of where the two pieces of bamboo sticks join. Make sure the masking tape is wound around this cross section tight enough for it not to fall to pieces or collapse. Now that you have managed to learn how to make the brace for your kite, you are now ready for the next stage in learning how to make a kite. Check to see what it is your children want to use for the kite material. Paper they have decorated, or newspaper or maybe the rubbish bag theory. Paper of course over time will rip, but the children wont care about this to begin with, you can always sit down another time and have another go at learning how to make a kite. This is simply an activity for fun between you and your children.

Once your children have decided what they want to use as the main of their kite, you can now cut this to shape. We are wanting this kite to be shaped like a diamond. It is a good idea to cut out two shapes the same, and then attach them individually to the kite brace you have previously prepared. Lay one cut out diamond shape on the ground and then place your brace over the top of this, Using the masking tape you are now going to tape the brace to the first cut out shape. Because you have another piece of cut out paper or rubbish bag to place over the top of this you will not see the taping on this piece of kite. Once you have the brace of the kite attached to the first piece of the main part of the kite, you are now ready to learn how to attach the second side of the kite. Simply, place the second cut out diamond shape you have over the other piece of cut out diamond which is now firmly attached to the kite brace (the bamboo sticks). You can either glue the sides of all the cut out diamond shapes together or using your masking tape, tape it all together around the edges.

Now that you have the main part of your kite attached to the brace of your kite, you are ready to learn how to make a tail. You will need to cut a length of string long enough for the kite to actually be up in the air a fair way, for the wind gusts to catch it and make it fly. You should be able to feel the lower piece of the bamboo stick through the paper or the rubbish bag you have used to cover the brace with. Simply wrap some string around this and tie in a tight knot. You may want to wrap your string around this piece of bamboo a few times, making sure it will not slip off. You can now if you so choose to, make some bows out of paper or a rubbish bag and also attach these to the top part of the string you have just attached to the kite brace. Maybe you could place 5 bows down along the length of string. Then leave enough for the above mentioned, so your kite will fly high enough in the sky to be seen.

You can wrap a decent amount of sting around a piece of thin wood or a twig for holding onto while flying. If you do this, you can then determine how high you want the kite at any given time.

That is one method you can learn about, in knowing how to make a kite. It is by far one of the easiest ways to learn how to make a kite, and one the children can learn about how to make a kite also. Before you know it, the children will be outside making their own kites without needing your help.

See Also:
For further advice on how to make a kite, see:

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