Kites 

 
     
   
   
   

 Internet Resources  Aeronautics Internet Textbook

American Kitefliers Association

To see the manual Kites in the Classroom, search the title in google. When you see the link for a pdf from AKA, click and you will be able to download the manual.

This was my first attempt at making kites in Art class. I had wanted to try it for some time. I found it a very fun and rewarding project. I eventually fine tuned a few things to make it feasible as a classroom activity. I will add some information on pattern and supplies soon.

 

Materials

The Kite Guys

Into the Wind

 ...and so the saga continues. It's been more than a year since I first put these kite pictures on the site. Interest in kites is growing. I even had the wonderful opportunity to be seconded by my school district to travel to schools for a month this winter to do enrichment activities with kites. I began with an introduction to kites and activities using internet resources to motivate the students to learn more about kites. I made cardboard patterns for the bird kite and sled kite (one pattern for each group of 3 or 4). We used dowels and dihedral connectors for the bird kite and clear plastic garbage bags for the sails. For the sled kite we used tyvek which was easy to paint with tempera. Plastic straws worked well for the framing part. When it came time to fly the kites, students were bundled up having a great time in -20 C weather.