How to Make a Kite Out of a Paper Bag and Twigs

With Autumn in full swing, many people are seizing the opportunity to engage in outdoor activities before Winter arrives. One way to take advantage of Autumn's often windy weather is flying kites. Children everywhere love flying kites, but they will love getting to design and fly their own kite even more. The following project involves using inexpensive items (some of them will even be free) such as paper bags, string, twigs and streamers or ribbons to make a kite kids are sure to love. You may also use optional items such as markers, stickers, stamps, etc. to decorate the kite after you have constructed it.

Begin the project by obtaining a large paper bag. You can easily get one for free from a grocery store if you do not mind the stores name on your kite (you can also color over it if you would like). Next gather string, twigs, streamers or ribbons and clear packing tape. The only tool required for this project will be a pair of scissors.

If you would like to use optional materials such as markers or stamps to decorate the bag, now is the time. Otherwise decorating the bag will be much more difficult once you have made it in to a kite. If you wish to keep several children occupied give them each a paper bag, provide lots of art supplies and encourage them to make their own custom creations. Allow the bag time to dry before moving on to assembling the kite to avoid getting marker or ink on your hands.

Start by opening the bag. If you got one from the grocery store it will most likely stay open, however you should fold the top of the bag over (towards the outside) so you will have a two inch long flap on each side of the top of the bag. This flap will help keep the bag open, but it will also serve as a place for you to glue or tape long pieces of ribbon or party streamers. The length of the streamers or ribbon will depend on the size of your paper bag but I have found that using strips long enough to dangle roughly six inches past the bottom of the bag is perfect.

If you would like you can add stability to the kite by gluing or taping light twigs inside the bag along the long vertical edges. Be careful not to add to much weight or the kite will not fly. If you can not find light weight twigs feel free to use balsa wood instead.

After you have stabilized the kite you are nearly finished. Next, simply poke two holes in the short sides of the bag just below the flap you created when you folded part of the top of the bag over. You will need two pieces of string or brightly colored yarn, thread each one through one of the holes and knot it to prevent it from coming back out. I recommend using clear packing tape to cover the holes. I once made the mistake of not reinforcing the holes, the yarn I used quickly ripped through the holes and my kite crashed. You can avoid this simply by putting a small piece of the clear tape on each side of the hole.

Next tie each string to a spindle or directly on to a roll of kite string. Your kite is now ready to fly.