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I am
writing this as we come to the last day of Spring and the
longest day of the year. I don’t know about your Spring, but
ours was very wet. We had ducks swimming in our front yard!
Plants and kites sat on the sidelines waiting for the rain
to stop. Summer holds the promise of long, sunny days,
vacations, family reunions, and casual living. Keep your
kites ready for any opportunity that comes along during this
wonderful lazy time.
Kites…on a Roll®
News
The Internet offers
much in the way of news, information and activities. I found
several sites that offer free, printable, kids coloring
pages with kite themes. Go to
www.coloring.ws/t/spring/1.htm ,
www.atozkidsstuff.com/spk.html, and
www.princetonol.com/family/coloringbook/kite.gif to pull
up and print some fun pictures for kids to color. These are
just ideas; you may know someone who would love to create a
line drawing for kids to color. The plastic for our Kites…on
a Roll® is translucent. The drawing could be slipped under
the sail and traced on the front of the kite for the kite
maker to color.
The completed kites in our photo section are only examples
to show decorating possibilities. The Kites…on a Roll® and
the Fly Me Kite Kits are plain white. The lines on the
patterns show where to cut and place sticks, tails and tape;
the main part of the sail is plain, ready for a creative
hand.
Hints for an Easier Activity
While the weather doesn’t impact the making of kites, it
certainly affects the flying. If kite flying is to become
the grand finish of your activity and it is raining, you may
want to have an aeronautical march as your finale. Each kite
maker gets to hold his/her kite aloft for all to see as the
kites are paraded around the room. If there is enough time
before the parade, let the kids make masks, hats or costumes
to complement their kites. And, of course, play wonderful
music.
Please note that Fly Me Kite Kits do not come with string.
You can purchase some from us or from your neighborhood
store.
We got a terrific suggestion from a principal watching kites
being flown on a windy day. He had his students completely
tape the cross spar, making the stick stronger. This process
can be done on the Delta and Malay Bird cross pieces.
Another suggestion came from a teacher making the Malay Bird
with her class. She found out that it is much easier to
punch out the 2 holes before the sticks are taped on the
sail.
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