School has started; leaves are turning color; warmer clothing is coming out of storage; football games are everywhere; daylight is shorter. All indicators of the change of seasons. And the winds couldn’t be better for kite flying. Hope you have many chances to take advantage of the steady autumn winds.

Kites…on a Roll® News


A number of hobbies involve collecting. One website relating to but far removed from kite flying is www.geocities.com/kitesonstamps. The colors and various shapes of kites make each stamp a little gem. The stamps are a wonderful example of the similarities within the differences existing in our world.

"I'm not too small, and, as you see, this kite needs someone just like me." An example of the rhyme in the whimsical story, Someone Bigger, by Jonathan Emmett. This delightful story for young readers definitely shows that size is not important, using kite flying as an example.

Over the past month we have seen the price of crude oil rise. This is bound to impact the cost of the plastic we use for our Kites…on a Roll®. Our prices are holding now, but I won’t know until January what changes will occur.

Question: While many people believe that kiting began in the Orient, why did kites show up all over the world? Answer: Commerce: In addition to spices, silks, and cloth trading companies bought anything else they thought would sell in Europe. Kites were also found in ports left by sailors on leave.

Hints for an Easier Activity

Have you ever considered music playing in the background of your kite making workshop? "Let’s Go Fly a Kite," "I've Got the World on a String," and "Come Fly with Me" are some of the more popular tunes. I bet you and your class can find more songs that will liven up your activity. If you are turning your kite flying into an event and are serving food, you may want to come up with names for your dishes, such as "When Pigs Can Fly Chili" or "Wind at your Back Potatoes."

A teacher at an after school program suggested a good reinforcement idea for the Sled Kite. After you tape the ends of the bridle line to the kite sail, put another piece of tape across that tape and fold over the ends.

One kite club created a fun event that would tie in kite making with a science or history class. They presented the "Franklin Kite Challenge." The simple rules belied the task: use period-correct materials to duplicate Ben Franklin’s kite. This is not an easy kite to fly. That’s why we use our 3 designs.