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How To Make Your Own Kite

Kids will love seeing their kite creation fly through the air!

By Valarie Fisher, publisher of Macaroni Kid Roseville-Rocklin-Lincoln, Calif. April 30, 2019

Our whole class made kites when I was in elementary school. It was so much fun. Not everyone got their homemade kites up in the air, but we had fun trying!

I wanted to revisit this homemade kite project and found it was just as much a thrill to watch our kite take to the sky as it was when I was a child. Plus, the kids loved it, and it's easy for them to make!

Bonus: there's a good chance you have all the supplies you need already!  

Here's how to make your own kite to fly on a windy spring day:

Supplies:

  • Paper bag
  • Tissue paper
  • String
  • Paint, markers, stickers, or washi tape
  • Small piece of construction paper or cardstock

Instructions:

1. Let the kids decorate the paper bags however they'd like. (If they are using stickers, be sure they are regular thin stickers, not the thicker foam ones because they will add extra weight.) We used paint dot/daubers, which made for a mess-free project. 




2. Cut a small piece of construction paper or cardstock to fit inside the bottom of the bag. (This will help support the bottom so it doesn't tear too easily when the string is pulled through.) 

3. Open the bag and glue the piece of paper inside the bag. 

4. Poke two small holes through the bottom equidistant apart. 

5. Run the string inside and through the holes. Take the 2 ends of the string and tie a knot.




6. Cut 10 strips of tissue paper about 1" x 9". 

7. Glue them to the inside of the open end of the bag. 




8. Once it is all dry, attach a long string to the knotted string on the bag.

Then open up your bag, wait for a breezy moment, and let your homemade kite fly!

Valarie Fisher is the publisher of Macaroni Kid Roseville-Rocklin-Lincoln, Calif.