Millie-Mae and Mummy makes .... An Olympic Kite

Published in issue 18, August 2012

Written by Tracey Kifford

Expecting the Summer holidays to be full of blue skies and heatwaves and picnics we thought a good activity for this issue would be to make a kite! Alas it has yet to stop raining so we’ve not yet ventured outdoors for the maiden flight … but any day now …
Truthfully this wasn’t just a Millie-Mae and Mummy activity, but Daddy and Toby joined in too …

You will need:

Canes (I had a pack of indoor plant canes)

Tape (opaque tape as well as masking/‘gaffer’ tape)

Sail material (we used old PVC party tablecloths)

Ribbon for the tail

String

Scissors

Pen/Pencil

Hacksaw/knife to trim canes

Stapler

Measuring tape

Instructions:

1. To make a traditional ‘diamond-shaped’ kite you first need to get two lengths of cane – one that’s 36” and the other 33”. Our canes were shorter than this, so we carefully bound two together using the masking tape.

2. Position the 33” cane across the longer one 10” down from the top. Secure them together using the masking tape following a figure of eight pattern until it is securely held in place.

3. Using the knife or small saw, cut a small notch into the ends of each cane (if you are worried about them splitting, first wrap a small piece of tape around the top) – this is to attach string around the outside to attach the sail to. Make sure the notches are in line …

4. Take your string, and starting at the top feed the string into the notch and then run it round the outside of the frame. Keep it taut, while making sure the diamond shape is maintained. When you’ve gone all the way around, snip the top of the string – you should now be left with the kite skeleton.

5. Lay out your sail. We used old thin PVC party tablecloths that you can buy in most supermarkets, but you can use a dustbin bag, strong wrapping paper, or even newspaper (it just needs to be light). Lay the kite skeleton over the sail and then draw around it, leaving a margin of 1-1.5”. I found it easier to tape the frame to the sail to prevent it from slipping.

6. Take your clear tape. Fold the sail over the string and tape down. Repeat all the way around – now it looks like a kite! 

7. To attach the tail, we used 3 ribbons each of 2 metres long. We stapled the ribbon to the end of the kite to secure it, and then taped over it.

8. If you are serious about flying the kite (which we are), you will need to carry out in situ adjustments in the field – as it all comes down to balance. We attached some string 2” above the cross-piece and approximately 4” below it. We then tied our single line to this loop. The kite is now finished and is ready to fly!! 

As you can see we made two kites, which the children are excited about taking outdoors to fly. They are so light, we’re optimistically confident that (with a bit of patience) we’ll get them airborne on a breezy, dry day. Until then, they take pride of place in our dining room and have become the ‘must see’ items for any unsuspecting visitors!

Millie-Mae is the nearly 6 year old daughter of Tracey Kifford, founder and owner of the marketplace WowThankYou (www.wowthankyou.co.uk). Toby is 3¾.

Happy flying!

xxx