Make Monday: Let's Go Fly a Kite!

One of my favorite musicals of all times is Mary Poppins. Recently, I purchased a copy to share with Judah. We do not watch much television and so we watched it in short sections with a few songs at a time. Judah, of course loving anything to do with music and dancing, was glued listening to the fun lyrics and imitating the dance moves.

Perhaps later when he talked about a kite, I immediately got this idea in my head to make a kite out of paper. Spring is such a fun time for a kite with the bright, windy days. We have planned to get Judah a real kite for Easter. But in the meantime, I needed to pass the time desperately one morning and so we made a kite instead.

Materials we gathered to use were construction paper, pipe cleaners, colors, tape, ribbon, elastic string, scissors, hole punch, and some ingenuity and creativity. While I assembled an example to show Judah, he colored on some blue construction paper making all his designs of circles and ovals.

Next, I folded the 8 1/2 by 11 inch piece of paper into a square, cutting off the excess paper. I folded the paper again the alternate direction to make diamond creases. I then taped pipe cleaners in the interior side along those creases. I also used heavy-duty clear tape to tape on the ribbon. I hole punched the top point to tie on the elastic string and then taping the knot down for reinforcement.

Once we assembled the kites, we took them outside to fly. Surprisingly the kite held up more than I had imagined on a moderate windy day. The bendable pipe cleaners moved as the paper flapped in the wind and the elastic string aided the flexibility of the flight.

Our goal was accomplished. We passed the morning decorating and creating kites and flying them outside. We did a craft and enjoyed some fresh air outdoors besides, all in a days work. If you are desperate for some entertainment this spring with the kids, I suggest you go fly a kite!