If you want to know how to make a kite, you have definitely come to the right spot! This part of my website is devoted to the steps in making a kite, with photos, for a number of different classic kite designs.
The emphasis is on very cheap components, so you could make them all for just a few dollars! 30 cm (nearly 12 inches) bamboo skewers are my choice for spars, so some of these kite designs are fairly small.
However, making kites from bamboo and plastic is fun and they do fly really well! Plastic shopping bags can be used for making colorful tails.
Although this is quite basic kite making, the designs will get more complex and time consuming to build as you move down the lists. See the first 2 columns in the table further down on this page.
Could you do me a small favor at this point? Just take a few seconds to complete a very short survey. Thanks!
It will take me some time to produce web pages for them all. I'm aiming to pump out one each month for a year or 2. Have fun coming back here and learning how to build a kite, a different one each time!
Subscribing to the MBK Flying Skewers And Plastic newsletter will keep you up to date. It contains a link straight to the instructions for the latest MBK kite, each month.
Are you more ambitious? Perhaps the MBK kites aren't what you are after. Never mind, a whole range of books on how to make a kite are available. You might find in one of them the perfect project for your budding kite-making skills!
If you are an experienced kite maker, there's a unique opportunity waiting for you on the bamboo kite tips page.
MBK Kites To Make
If you're itching to get on and make your own kite right now, there's eight different types to choose from! The 2-skewer designs have about 4 times as much sail area as the 1-skewer designs. Hence, it's easier to make them accurately. Plus, for any given sail material, a 2 skewer kite will be better in light breezes than a 1-skewer kite.
Are you a parent? I've done a page on kite making for kids as well. It's a simple diamond kite.
If you have never made an MBK kite before, you'll also need to look at...
The first 2 links on each row of the table above lead to very complete step by step procedures on how to make a kite of that type, from bamboo skewers and plastic. These instructions ensure that your kite...
is accurately made
is light and strong
is properly balanced
is easily connected to various flying lines and tails (if appropriate)
flies like a dream!
Ok, on that last point there needs to be enough wind, and the towing point needs to be adjusted correctly! But by following the instructions, you have a great chance of your creation flying 'like a bought one'. For just a few cents. The materials you initially need to buy will let you build many MBK kites. Some things, like scissors and sticky tape, might already be in a cupboard somewhere!
The last link on each row of the table tells you some background information. You know, a bit of history, a few different examples of that kind of kite and so on. It's there in case you're interested.
Just one final thing to note. When I started making these I was not an experienced kite maker, apart from the kites I made as a child and later as a teenager. Hence you might notice small changes in the way I show you how to make a kite, from the first one onwards. Eventually, the whole series will be revised so every kite is made in very much the same way.
Did you enjoy reading any of the Background Info pages above? If so, you might be interested in some fascinating in-depth kite history. At this site, click on KITE HISTORY on the right hand side to browse time-lines of kite development, and peek into the activities of some early kite pioneers.