20 Kids * 20 Kites * 20 Minutes

The complete time tested instructions to get 20 kids making their own kites and flying them in 20 minutes.

Material list:

• 20 sheets of brightly colored 8 1/2" x 11" typing paper.
• 20 8" bamboo bar-b-que shishkabab sticks.
• 1 roll of florescent surveyor's flagging plastic tape. Available at any hardware store. A plastic bag cut in a 1" wide spiral all around will also make a great tail.
• 1 roll 1/2"wide masking tape or any type of plastic tape..
• 1 roll of string. (At least 200', 6 to 10 feet for each child.)
• 20 pieces of 1"x 3" cardboard on which to wind the string.
• Scissors.
• Hole punch. (optional)

Directions:

• Fold a sheet of 8 1/2" x 11" paper in half to 8 1/2" x 5 1/2".
• Fold again along the diagonal line A in Fig.2.
• Fold back one side forming kite shape in Fig.3 and place tape firmly along fold line AB.(No stick is needed here because the fold stiffins the paper and acts like a spine.)
• Place bar-b-que stick from point C to D and tape it down firmly.
• Cut off 6 to 10 feet of plastic ribbon and tape it to the bottom of the kite at B.
• Flip kite over onto its back and fold the front flap back and forth until it stands straight up.(Otherwise it acts like a rudder and the kite spins around in circles.)
• Punch a hole in the flap at E, about 1/3 down from the top point A.
• Tie one end of the string to the hole and wind the other end onto the cardboard string winder.

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  Here are some variations on this sled design.

  Here's what your class will look like at the end of the day

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  Material courtesy of Jonathan Socher and the Big Wind Kite Factory, Moloka'i, Hawaii © Jonathan Socher, [email protected]

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