How To Build an Easy Kite

Building a kite is an easy and fun project to do alone or with your children. The materials for the kite are easy to come by and do not cost much. Kites can be made out of tissue paper, fabric or plastic. For the ease of availability, we will use a trash bag for this project. Once you have gathered your supplies, the process is fairly easy. So, let's get started on this kite project!

Before we get started, make sure you have all the tools. You will need two 2 1/8 inch wooden dowels. One needs to be approximately 30 inches long and one should be 24 inches long. You will need a trash bag, some masking tape, kite string, or any long length of string, and ribbon. You should also have a pair of scissors on hand.

You will need to place the two dowels together to form a cross shape. The longest dowel will need to be placed vertically and the shorter will be placed horizontally. Make sure that the shorter dowel is approximately 2/3 towards the top of the longest dowel. At the point where the two dowels meet, you will need to bind them together with masking tape. Be careful not to use too much tape as it adds weight to the kite.

Lay your trash bag out and cut it along both side seams and across the bottom so that you have one single-layered sheet. Next, lay your cross of dowels over the top of the trash bag sheet and cut each corner of the bag until you have a diamond shape. You will need to tape the end of each dowel to the trash bag sheet. Make sure that the dowels are secured to the trash bag, again, without using an abundance of tape.

Cut a length of ribbon five feet long and then cut several lengths that are smaller and of varying lengths. Tie the lengths of ribbon together and tape them to the bottom of the kite. You may have to later add ribbons to the tail if the kite tips forward in flight. Next, all you have to do is poke a small hole in the center of the kite and thread some string through it and tie it to the dowels. Now your kite is ready to fly! Once you've mastered this simple kite, you can later try using other materials and designs.