How to Make Professional Kites

Flying a kite is fun and can bring out the kid in everyone. Making your own kite is even more fulfilling, especially when you see it soaring up in the sky. Building your own kite is easy and inexpensive. You can choose from a number of designs on the internet or from books. You can even make your own design, as long as you know the basics of kite making. Below you'll find the instructions to building a basic Delta kite which is a bit more advanced than the regular diamond-shaped kites.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Dowel rods
• Utility knife
• Scissors
• Strong string or nylon string
• Ruler
• Tissue paper (of any color)
• Glue
• Packing tape

Instructions

1. Cut your tissue paper into a 20x 30 inch rectangle. Measure 7 inches from the bottom of the tissue paper and draw a diagonal line from the lower left hand corner to the upper right hand corner of the paper. Cut this section away. This will become one of the wings of your kite.

2. From the same paper, cut the keel part (the keel is the part that steers the kite) by measuring 8 inches from the bottom of the tissue paper and from that point cut a diagonal to the right corner and a diagonal to the left while leaving 3 inches of space from the edge of the paper.

3. Put the two wings together by folding the keel under the second wing and leaving ¼ inch of seam in between the wings before gluing.

4. Cut the dowels into two 21 inch length and one 20 inch in length. Glue the 21 inch dowels on each side of the wings (wing spars) and the 20 inch dowel in the middle. Reinforce the nose of the head of the triangle with packing tape.

5. Turn the kite over to work on the keel. Reinforce the sides of the keel with packing tape and punch a hole about an inch from the pointed tip of the keel, and just inside the packing tape reinforcement.

6. On the top side of the kite measure 16 inches from the bottom tip of the wing spars and mark with a pencil. Do this on the other side of the wing. Layout another piece of dowel on top of the wing spar markings (the spreader bar). Cut the spreader bar shorter than the measured length between the markings to force the wings into a V-shape when joined together. Connect the spreader bar on the wing spars with packing tape.

7. Tie a string in the hole of the keel and fly the kite.

Tips & Warnings

• You can also use plastic grocery bags to make the kite. This will make it resistant to water and will last longer than tissue paper.
• When considering alternatives to plastic bags or tissue paper, make sure that the material is lightweight or you will have a hard time getting the kite airborne.

Resources

• More information on making kites
• Professional guide to kite making and flying. Includes tools and materials