How to Make an Easy Kite
Making your own kite allows you to add your personality to the design of your kite, and a well-designed kite can fly high and create hours of entertainment. Creating a kite and getting it ready to fly can be made into a family activity. Many beginner kite makers start out with creating a basic diamond-shaped kite.
Instructions
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1
Create a cross with the two sticks. The intersection of the cross should be slightly higher than the center of the sticks. The cross shape of the two sticks will create a structure to put the kite on.
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2
Tie some string around the sticks to make them stay together. The string needs to be lightweight. It can be the same string that you will use to fly the kite with after you finish making your kite.
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3
Use the string to make a diamond shape around the crossed sticks. Start at the top of the cross and work your way clockwise. Loop the string around the top stick, then go to the right side and loop the string around the right stick. Bring your string down to the bottom stick and loop the string around it, then bring the string over to the left side and loop it. Finish looping the string back at the top. This creates a diamond pattern to place your newspaper on. The amount of string that you will use will vary depending on the size of the sticks that you chose for your kite.
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Place the newspaper over the sticks. Check to make sure it is bigger than the cross. If the newspaper is bigger, then you only need one piece. If it is not, then you may tape two pieces of newspaper together to create a big enough kit to fit the cross.
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Use the size of the string and wood diamond that you have created to create a template for your newspaper. Fold the newspaper into a diamond shape. Fold the top-left corner of the newspaper and tape it down. Fold the top-right side of the newspaper and tape it down. Repeat this step with the bottom-left and the bottom-right sides of the newspaper. Use the clear tape to keep the diamond shape in the newspaper. Check the size of your newspaper diamond against the size of your string and stick diamond. Adjust the newspaper until it is the same size as your string and stick diamond.
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Tape the newspaper to the sticks. Use tape at each end of the cross as well as the middle of the cross to fully secure the newspaper to the cross.
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Cut one more piece of string. The length that you cut should be slightly longer than the size of the kite's sticks. Tie the string onto the kite so that you can use it as an anchor to tie the rest of the string to. Tie the string to the top part of the cross and then to the bottom part of the cross.
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Attach the rest of your string to the loop that you just created on your kite. Your kite is now complete unless you decide to add a tail to your kite. A tail can be made out of newspaper.
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Cut a piece of newspaper into a thin strip about 3 inches wide. You can use the full length of the newspaper for the tail. Attach the tail to the bottom of the kite with tape.
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References
- Photo Credit kite image by Tinovskiy from Fotolia.com
