Kids Kites

They're Everywhere, Shop Bought Or DIY

Are you a parent, looking for kids kites suitable for your young child? If so, this page should be a good read for you! Also, if you don't mind the idea of making your own, why not try my Tiny Tots Diamond design. My wife, who isn't a kite flier, had a go and succeeded beyond her expectations!

The flying of simple kites has proven itself to be a great family bonding activity. As long as you let the kids fly the kite and don't hog it for yourself too often! The costs can be very low. Also, the right purchase could even succeed in drawing your child away from their favorite T.V. shows and video games, from time to time!

According to one poet, Kids Are Like Kites. Follow that link for something unexpected.

Keep an eye out for kite-making events. These are often able to offer a construction and flying experience for particularly low cost because the materials are bought in bulk. Some of these events are specifically aimed at children. There's usually a workshop of some kind happening at a kite festival, for example. We've been to a few festivals, and it's not hard to tell when there has been a recent workshop for making kids kites. Small kids and small kites here, there and everywhere! A mini kite-festival off to one side of the main event, you could say.

There's also a whole world of multi-line kites out there, but these are generally more expensive and better suit 8 year olds and up. Besides, I personally have a bias towards single line designs of all kinds! Hence this page is all about single-liners for young kids.

So how do you go about getting your young child into kite flying? There are 3 approaches.

1. Buy a kite. A huge range of inexpensive colorful designs are available, both from shops and the Internet.
2. Buy a kite kit. Besides being cheap, this option involves your child in making something, with some help.
3. Make a kite from scratch. When it comes to cheap kites for kids, this is the cheapest of all! Finding suitable materials is not a problem in most countries.

When buying a kite, the shop owner will usually be more than happy to help you select something which is a proven flier and also suits the age and personality of your child. Some types will last longer than others too. Shopping on-line? If the website itself doesn't give all the info you need, just email the owner. They'll be happy to help, they want the sale!

Kite kits are a great idea if your child enjoys making things. Pretty well everything is included, for just a few dollars. If some aspects of building of the kite itself are a bit much for the child, then they can at least have fun with the decoration of the sail.

Scratch-built kites for children use materials that are commonly available either from shops or already sitting in a cupboard somewhere at home.

The Age Factor

Any age from 2 to 102 can enjoy single line kids kites! However, keep the following things in mind...

• 0 - 1 years: Kite flying is technically possible if they can grasp a string! However, there's really no point in trying it, unless you are plotting to set up a photo to amaze and astonish other parents ;-) The kite's flight might last just a fraction of a second, before the unsuspecting young kite pilot lets it go! However, from 18 months or so they can probably appreciate a piece of ribbon attached to a finger and allowed to flutter in the breeze. All the better if they are capable of trotting along on their own 2 legs, finger-tails held high!
• 2 - 3 years: We have experience in this area. Our boy Aren has flown a small diamond and other small kids kites, for short periods. Sometimes from his pram, at other times while standing. However, attention span can be very limited in this age group. After a short while, watching the line or the kite, they tend to play 'toss the reel'! Even so, they can appreciate a flying kite and look forward to going out to see it fly. Running around with finger-tails a-flutter would also work in this age group.
• 4 - 5 years: This is the ideal age group for child fliers. When kids fly kites at this age, they can get quite excited about making one, with some help, and going out to fly it.
• 6 - 8 years: The excitement factor wanes a bit, but some in this age group still love to fly single-liner kids kites. Others will begin to get distracted by more expensive kites of various kinds, or non-kiting activities.
• 9 + years: The child might be starting to develop into a kite-person for life. Or not! A small number of people, including myself, are able to get considerable enjoyment out of single line designs for their entire lives.

What about the non-Western world? The above comments would no doubt be true to a large extent no matter where in the world the child comes from. I can think of one big contrast though, and that is the fighter-kite cultures of the world. With kite-fighting, the last one flying is the winner. In a number of countries, using kites in this way is very popular, particularly in the poorer neighborhoods. For these children, flying is just as much about competing with other fliers, as it is about flying the kite itself. You just don't see that in the West, although an increasing number of adults are aware of this sport. Having fun in a group setting with fighter kites is definitely on the rise in the West.

Kids Kites In The West

Here's a short list of the most popular types of kids kites in the West. Plus a few comments.

• Diamonds: The classic kids kite! With a little care, these can last quite a while and the good ones fly nice and high. The flat sail means the decoration is clearly visible in the air.
• Deltas: These bird-like triangular designs are efficient fliers, known for achieving high line angles in even fairly light breezes. Like the diamond, the sail decoration is plainly visible in the air, and they are popular starter kites for children.
• Parafoils: The nice thing about a kids parafoil is that it has no spars. The inflatable design allows it to be scrunched up into a small space for transport. We've seen a few of these around, and they seem to be reliable fliers. They don't get to very high line angles though.
• Sleds: These are very simple 2-spar kites and roll up for easy transport. Some of the smaller ones aren't great fliers though. They are even easier to make than a diamond.
• Dragons: Not the traditional Chinese variety, these have a curved leading edge and a long broad tail. Can be a little erratic in the air, but they sure put on a good display of color and swirling movement!

Here's a picture of all 5 types, in the same order left to right:

Elsewhere - Kids Flying Fighter Kites

The basic idea of a kite fight is pretty much the same the world over. The last kite in the air wins, and this is usually achieved by cutting the flying lines of the other kites. By friction against other flying lines, not with scissors! However, a pair of scissors did make an appearance during one highly irregular Rokkaku Battle. That was during a South Australian kite festival some years ago, here in Adelaide! So a little birdie told me.

Back to kids flying fighters. A number of countries have a history of children flying the distinctive local fighter kite into battle. Here are those countries, followed by the name of the traditional kite:

• India and Pakistan, with the Patang design. Other Indian Fighter designs exist, which are not so often flown by children.
• Afghanistan, with the Gudiparan design - Afghan Fighter to most of us. These are made in a range of sizes, all much bigger than the Indian kites. I can't imagine the very biggest Afghan fighters as kids kites!
• Korea, with the Pangp'aeyon design - or Shield Kite. These have a distinctive large hole in the middle.
• Brazil, with the Piao design. Known as Top Kites since the shape and traditional patterns make them look like spinning tops. Tails are used on these kites.
• Cuba, where kites are known as Papalotes.. Children fly fighters that are rather small, 6-sided designs that also use a tail for stability. No fighting kite is too stable though! That would make it an easy target.

Again, here is a picture of all 5 types, in the same order left to right:

Actually, every kite-flying culture has its child fliers. The kids make their own fairly crude kites from whatever materials are available. Crude in comparison to what can be bought in the local shops. Local kite masters or designers and their assistants turn out extremely neat and well-balanced kites for sale. The smallest and cheapest of these are often flown as kids kites. Bamboo still dominates as a great traditional spar material, but the traditional sail materials of tissue and silk are starting to give way to more modern materials such as nylon, mylar and plastic.

2 Year Old Kite Flier Pics, Some Blog Entries

Here's an old page featuring instructions on how to make our MBK Kids Diamond. Pop in there and see a pic of our Aren, barely old enough to run, trotting downwind with his Kids Kite several meters in the air! There was enough breeze on that day to make that possible.

To get a feel for the challenges and joys of flying single-line kites with 2 year olds, try these links to a couple of our blog entries:

Aren standing up and flying the MBK 2-Skewer Diamond.
Aren flying the MBK 1-Skewer Diamond from his pram.

Last updated: 20 Aug 2008