Let’s go fly a kite! Dwayne (a vfv sponsored kid) shows you how.

How to make a kite from a plastic bag, some sticks and string!

If you look up to the sky on a sunny day in Bliss, you will always see a colorful kite or two fluttering away in the breeze against the piercing blue sky.
I enlisted 8 year old Dwayne (one of VFV’s sponsored kids) to show me how to make a kite with just 3 items.
Step away from the wifi, switch off your gadgets and get crafty!

You will need:

What you need to make your kite

• 1 plastic shopping bag
• 2 thin sticks (the children here use stalks from coconut tree leaves or ‘borrow’ them from brooms!)
• Lots of string wound round a tin can
• Scissors

Optional (apart from in Bliss):

• A small crowd of onlookers

Instructions:

Cutting the bag

1) Cut your plastic bag into a diamond.

Fixing one stick across the longest part

2) Lay one of the sticks across the longest part of the diamond from one corner to another. Cut off any extra stick so that it fits. Fix the ends of the stick to each corner of the plastic using some thread.

Bend and fix the second stick in place

3) Take the second stick, bend it to form an arch shape. Tie the ends of it to the remaining corners. Fold the plastic over the sides and fix to make a bit of a frame.

Tie the 2 sticks in the middle

4) Tie the 2 sticks together where they meet in the middle.

Fixing the balance string to the kite

5) Take a piece of string a bit longer than the length of your kite. Tie it to where the sticks cross. Pierce the plastic and draw the string through to the other side. Turn the kite over then tie the other end to the bottom of the kite.

Checking the balance

6) Check that the kite is balanced and won’t twist – hold the the middle of the string you have just tied on and lift the kite. See if the kite remains flat. Now run around holding the middle of the string. Check that the kite flies properly and does not twist.

Making the tail

7) Make a tail for your kite from the remaining plastic (or other scraps of plastic if you want a different color). Fix it to the bottom of the diamond.

Tying on the string

8) Tie the end of the string attached to the can to the string that you have tied between the middle of the sticks and the bottom of the diamond.

Success!

9) You are now ready to fly your kite!

I hope you enjoy making your kite!

Find out how you can sponsor creative kids like Dwayne

or

Donate to help VFVsupport their creativity

Photos and story: Liz Avery – VFV Media Intern