All products were chosen independently by our editorial team. This review contains affiliate links and we may receive a commission for purchases made. Please read our affiliates FAQ page to find out more.

How to make a kite out of paper – easiest ever method

Learn how to make a kite and get ready for the most fun kids' craft activity ever!

Try our magazines – get 6 issues from just £9.99!

Zoe Williams

Published: March 26, 2024 at 5:01 pm

All you need are a couple of simple supplies to make your own simple paper kite at home.

While there are several different methods out there for how to make a kite at home (each of them as clever as the next), we have kept this tutorial as a very simple paper kite DIY for children to make.

The beauty of this fun kids' craft idea is you'll only need a few supplies that you should already have lying around at home – scissors, tape, paper and string.

We've used a bamboo skewer to reinforce our kite, but you can even swap this for a straw if you don't have any skewers to hand.

undefined

Once you've learned how to make a kite, we know you'll love it as much as we do. So once you've caught the bug there are all sorts of other fun methods you can try – turning wrapping paper into kites or making more traditional kites with more involved designs.

We've even included a few of our favourite kite making kits at the bottom in case you're looking to stock up on supplies to keep your mini makers occupied in the holidays.

Of course paper kites aren't going to be the most sturdy kite option. If you class yourself as a hardcore, adventure-loving, kite-flying family, you'll still enjoy this paper kite activity, but your kits may not survive being flown on top of a mountain!

They should happily take to the skies in your local park or playground though, and let's face it... half of the fun is in the making!

You might also like our favourite 50 craft ideas for kids or our paper craft for kids or check out our easy salt dough recipe. Kids will enjoy our how to make shrinky dinks or inspire them by investing in kids drawing tables with our round-up of the best ones on the market.

How to make a paper kite

You will need:

  • Paper (A4)
  • Scissors
  • bamboo skewer (or a straw)
  • Sellotape
  • String
  • Hole punch
  • Ribbon ((optional))
  • Tissue paper ((optional))

Step 1

Place the piece of paper (or you can use lightweight card) in front of you and fold in half (so the fold is halfway along the longest edge).

How to make a kite out of paper – fold the paper in half

Step 2

Mark a point with a pen along the top edge, about 3cm to the right of the folded edge (the top left corner). Then make a point along the bottom edge, about 3cm from the bottom right corner. Join up the lines. This is your first fold line.

How to make a kite out of paper draw a diagonal fold line

Step 3

Fold the top right corner down along the fold line you just marked.

How to make a kite out of paper fold the first top piece down

Step 4

Turn your piece of paper over (flip it) and fold the other side to match the first (along the same fold line). The two corners should meet once you have folded this side.

How to make a kite out of paper flip and fold again

Step 5

Unfold one of the flaps and lay your kite in front of you, flat, with one flap folded downwards. Tape all along the fold.

How to make a kite out of paper flip and tape

Step 6

Lay a wooden skewer across the kite, from corner to corner, and tape in place.

How to make a kite out of paper step 4A
How to make a kite out of paper step 4B

Step 7

Flip your kite upside down and mark a hole – a quarter of the way down the fold – from the top of the kite. Cover the hole with tape to reinforce it.

How to make a kite out of paper step 5A
How to make a kite out of paper step 5B

 

Step 8

Use a hole punch or scissors to punch a hole where you have marked. Tie the hole with string – knot the string several times to make sure it won’t come loose in the wind.

How to make a kite out of paper step 6B

At this stage, your kite is ready to fly. But now’s also a fun time to decorate it! You can paint or decorate the top of your kite with pens, paints or stickers. For our kite, we are going to show you how to add a tail of tissue paper bows. 

Make a paper bow tail

Step 1

Cut some small strips of tissue paper in all different colours. Pinch and twist each one in the middle to make a series of paper bows.

How to make a kite out of paper step 9A

Step 2

Take a length of string (we've just used cotton thread) and tie the bows to the string, one at a time, to make a string of bows. Punch a hole at the bottom of the kite and thread the bows to it.

How to make a kite out of paper step 10

If you prefer, you can simplify this step by just cutting several long thin lengths of tissue paper, or grab some ribbons, and stick them to the bottom of the kite instead.

How to make a kite out of paper for kids

 

 

If you’ve been inspired by our how to make a kite project but don’t actually have many craft supplies to hand at home, we can help! Here are a few kite making kits to try…

5 of the best kite making kits

The Twiddlers – 3 Design your own kits

The Twiddlers kite making kit

 

Buy the paper kite kit from Amazon 

Kids will love colouring in their own pre-made kites – these kits make great birthday gifts or summer holiday craft projects. The kit comes as a pack of 3 pre-made kites crafted in polyester fabric. You get a handle with string, storage pouch, ribbon tails and coloured pens for decoration.

The kite measures 65 x 65cm at its widest point, so there is plenty of surface area to catch those gusts once you have it styled up ready to take outside.

Being polyester does make this more durable than a paper kite, which makes it easier for very young children who would struggle with a fragile paper version. Coming with its own storage pouch, it is designed to be stored well and used again and again, which we like a lot.

Painting kite kits

Painting kite making kits

 

Buy the kite making kit from Amazon

This 10 pack of diamond kite kits would make a great children’s party activity – get your party guests to make their own kite, then take them outside to fly them – weather allowing of course!

These kites are made from paper that has been treated to be waterproof. The big plus here is that you can used any craft material that marks paper to decorate them. Colour with pencils, crayons, paints, gel pens – you don’t need permanent markers. The kite kit comes with 10 kites measuring 40 x 50cm at the widest point, and 90cm long rainbow-striped ribbon tails.

Hanging kite craft kit

Hanging kite kit

Buy the kite kit from Etsy

This two-pack of decorative kites are more for dressing up bedrooms and play rooms but they’ll still keep your mini makers busy creating their very own DIY home decor.

Diamond kite making kits

 

Kite making kits

Buy the kite kit from eBay

This traditional kite making kit comes with everything you need to make 10 kites – so it’s handy to have at home for play dates and parties. This is the only kit we’ve come across where you actually make the kite frame yourself using pre-cut wooden sticks and joining nodes.

It is a good choice for older kids who might not want to draw on a kite before they fly it. Being plastic, they’re more durable than paper kites, lightweight and easy to fly. But it is not great if you are trying to reduce the plastic you have in your kids’ toy box.

Crayola kite making kit

the crayons kite kit shoes a butterfly kits with 2 side panels with flowers. Colour is being added to the design with crayons

Buy the kite making kit from eBay

Here is a simple kite making kit that works for kids who love their crayons. The paper kit comes printed, assembled and ready to fly, but you get 3 crayons in the pack too, so instant colour can be added. Add in more crayons from your supplies for a more colourful design!

Learn how to make a kite and enjoy the fresh air even more!

Flying a kite is one of those activities most of us remember from childhood. It's fun taking a readymade one to the park but even better making one yourself!

More DIY projects for kids

Caught the making bug? We have loads of brilliant DIY projects for kids here on Gathered. Why not learn how to make friendship bracelets?  This is a great activity for rainy playdates or parties!

Three hands wearing handmade friendship bracelets

 

 

Zoe Williams

Launch Editor, Gathered.how

Zoe launched Gathered.how as editor in 2019. A keen crafter, quilter and sewist, she has worked with the UK’s best-selling craft magazines – from Today’s Quilter to Love Patchwork & Quilting, Simply Sewing and The World of Cross Stitching. With over a decade of craft publishing experience under her belt, she loves crafting with her kids and curling up on the sofa with a spot of hand patchwork. Zoe has previously written for radiotimes.com, Simply Knitting and The World of Cross Stitching and was previously Deputy Editor of Papercraft inspirations magazine. She has guest-lectured at Bath Spa University. She’s a keen quilter with 5 projects in progress at any one time and another 12 or so planned. Specialist skills include hand modelling for YouTube craft tutorials and fabric foraging (she has an inbuilt radar for local haberdasheries and community craft gatherings).
This website is owned and published by Our Media Ltd. www.ourmedia.co.uk
© Our Media 2024