stART – Let’s Go Fly a Kite

What came first, the chicken or the egg? For, this week’s stART project, the “art” part of the project preceded the “story” part. The craft worked out so well that I wanted to find a book to go with it so that I could feature it on the blog. Is this cheating?

We read the book The Magic School Bus Rides the Wind. In this Magic School Bus adventure, the bus takes to the skies after Wanda’s kite blows away. Ms. Frizzle teaches the children a lot about the power of wind while they chase the kite. This books is also a good choice given the current events surrounding the gulf oil spill – it introduces children to the concept of wind power and shows some of the ways that windmills work. After the kids rescue Wanda’s kite, they use their kites to decorate the wall of their classroom.

Here are directions for making your own kite. The idea for this craft came from my son’s week at camp.

materials:
1 small paper lunch bag
string – about a two foot length
paper streamers (4) about 16 inches long each
a single hole punch
tape
scissors
crayons or other materials to decorate the kite

1) Cut off the bottom of the bag leaving a paper tube.
2) Punch a single hole in the middle of the “top” side of the bag. It may help if you have a reinforcement for the hole.
3) Attach the length of string to the hole.
4) Have the child color and/or decorate the outside of the bag.
5) Tape the streamers to the inside of the kite at the bottom – on the same side where you attached the string.
6) Take your kite outside and run like the wind.

Sorry about the picture quality. A cell phone camera and a running kid do not a good picture make!

Check out what other kids are reading and doing artwork for at A Mommy’s Adventures.