We’re reading AA Milne’s Winnie The Pooh and the Very Blustery Day where eventually piglet gets blown away, and lands in Owl’s house which gets blown down on a very blustery day.

Given the wind theme, and the current windy weather where we live, we decided to go fly a kite in the wind. Unfortunately, our beautiful store bought kite took flight and snapped it’s string in the first big gust. So home we trotted, with the mind of making our own (much stronger!!) kite.

Anything that’s sail shaped, and attached to string will catch the wind, and make a makeshift kite… but a good flying kite needs some structure. The easiest shape to make is a diamond kite.

You will need

• Construction Paper
• Gaffa Tape (or any strong, tape)
• Two pieces of bamboo cane for the frame
• String
• Paints to decorate
• Old bits of rag for the tail.

To make your kite:

1. Lay your bamboo pieces across one another, and tie them together using some of the string. Go round several times, until they’re firmly secured in a cross shape.
2. Using a hack saw, cut a notch into each end of the bamboo, and thread the string through it, to make a diamond shaped frame. (Secure it with a good knot!)
3. Cut a large diamond shape from the construction paper, large enough for the bamboo to lie diagnonally corner to corner on.
4. Tape your paper to the string.
5. Tie one end of your string VERY securely to the middle of the kite
6. If you want to make a tail, tie a length of string to the bottom point of the kite, and knot pieces of rag through it.
7. Decorate it
8. Fly it in a strong breeze.

Never ever fly your kite around electrical poles, cables, etc or during a storm.

Photo by: edenpictures