Kites

Did you know that kites were invented in China thousands of years ago?

That fact stopped Lizzie in her tracks. She was ready to stop doing that “very important thing” she was doing and make a kite!

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We started out by reading Kite Flying by Grace Lin for a little bit of inspiration. It’s a short and lyrical book about the process of making a kite. My favorite part was at the end, when the author provided a history of kites and kite flying. Lots of fun facts!

Supplies Needed

Craft sticks (1 large and 1 small for each kite)
Glue
Construction paper
Ruler
Scissors
Yarn
Tape

We started out by hot-gluing two craft sticks together. We used a large craft stick for the length and a small craft stick for the width.

Glue the small craft stick about a third of the way down the larger stick. Hot glue is not a necessity.

We used it so we didn’t have to wait long for the sticks to dry. Any craft glue or school glue would work fine.

We then took the ruler and drew straight lines in the shape of the kite using our craft sticks as a guide.

The next step was cutting out the kite.

Once the kites were cut out, it was time to decorate!

We used markers because that’s been a favorite art supply around here lately.

But, really, anything goes. Get out the paint, the crayons, or even stickers.

After the girls were satisfied with their decorations, we attached the kite to the sticks. We also attached a piece of yarn for the kite string.

As you can see, we opted for tape. And we used a lot of tape! After all, there were a 4- and 2-year-old involved!

This is Lizzie’s finished kite. She decided to make a dragon face on her kite.

AJ wouldn’t let me take a picture of hers!

After making their kites, the girls spent the rest of the afternoon at a kite festival of their own design. They had signs, giant imaginary kites, their little kites, and a picnic of felt food. What a glorious way to spend an afternoon!