How to make a mini kite

There are many ways to make a mini kite. If you would like to make a real kite, there are directions here.)

For a real kite the tail is attached to the bottom corner of the kite, separate from the main kite string, but this can get a little bulky on a mini kite. We often just have one main string and attach the bows to that.

Materials: The only special materials we sometime use are cloth covered wire, or florist's wire to make the string stay up in the air. Where you see "tape" or "glue" in the instructions, we often use little bits of double-sided tape as it is more forgiving. But regular tape and glue are ok, too. The kites on these pages use linen thread and wool for string.

Simple folded paper




This is the easiest way to make a kite. You just cut a diamond out of stiff paper (translucent coloured vellum paper works very, very well for this). Firmly fold in half lengthwise and crosswise, unfold. Glue or use a little piece of tape to attach a string or wire to the backside of the kite. Or you can pierce a little hole, pass your string through and knot it. You can also add some bows. Done!

Paper, sticks and glue





Take two small twigs, or sticks or toothpicks and place them crosswise, one on top of the other. Put a daub of glue or tape between them. Wrap some thread around the centre in a figure 8 pattern and knot, leaving one or two long tails. This will be the string and tail for your kite, so leave the ends quite long (this is a bit of a mistake in our photos: we cut them and had to add an extra string after). Knot or glue in place.

Next, place your frame on a piece of tissue or other light paper. Trace a diamond around your frame. Trace a bigger diamond around your first diamond. Cut out the bigger diamond. Fold along the lines of your smaller diamond. Place your frame in the middle of your diamond and if everything is lining up, put a dollop of glue or tape between the centre of your kite frame and the paper. Then glue and fold the edges of your diamond over the frame.

Cut your kite string and tail to the length you want. Decorate your tail with bows or whatever you like. We made vegetable bows for the bunnies' kites last year.

Paper or cloth with stitching

You can use a firmer paper or stiff cloth and stitch around the hem of the kite, using the directions above and the sewing around the hem by hand.

One last thing: you can make a little spool out of a little twig, empty spool of thread, or clothespin, and wind the end of the string onto it. This also acts as a holder.