Make a Kite the Easy Way (traditional Diamond Shaped)

when i was younger i use to make these all the time. they are very fun to fly and very simple to make. i wanted to do them as simple as possible because i would love to fly them as high as possible. trying to achieve this meant that i would loose some kites no matter what. either i would loose some due to the wind stop blowing or due to the string breaking (when i was younger i could not afford to buy strong string). so i sort of found a way to do them as simple as possible.

so here are the steps. first find two stick from your back yard that are the same size or close as possible, also, as straight as possible. you can go to the hobby store to buy some stick too. here i'm going to make a mini kite using two skewer sticks.

once you have the sticks, get yourself a plastic bag big enough to cut out the kite.

the pic shows how i folded the plastic bag in half (actually it was already folded) and put the sticks like the pic shows and marked the ends of the sticks with a marker.

next connect the dots using a straight edge and cut the bag with some scissors like the picture shows.

now get some strips of tape and put the sticky side up with half of the tape under the plastic and the other half used to fold over the wood stick like how the picture shows. i started with the vertical stick first and then did the horizontal the same way.

now tie the two sticks where they cross together.

once that is done, poke some holes through like the picture shows. it does not have to be in the exact place i marked just guesstimate.

cut a long enough piece of string and tie it where the holes were poked from the plastic side. and tide a loop where the string to fly the kite will tie to. this loop has to be close to where the sticks cross. not to high or to low.

now we need to make tails for the kite. roll up the plastic bag that is left over or get a new one to make some tails.

after making a bunch of them grab them by the ends, put them together, and tape them.

the key here to do is to put just enough tails (weight) on the kite so it won't whip side to side in the air but to not put a lot that would weigh down the kite. i like to add a few to the side as well.

you can be creative here. you can add one really loooong one or a bunch of little ones. you can also use cloth here.

happy flying.