At our meeting on 29th April we made kites & tried flying them. Go here to see the instructions for our kites. They sort of worked! Sometime soon we'll add to this page the adaptions we made that helped them to work better.
Kites are traditional in China, Japan and Thailand - find out about a bit about traditional kites and kite festivals on this page.
History and traditions
The kite was first invented in China (according to this site), and is very popular there. According to legend kites were first used for spying! This wasn't the end of their military use either - in the 1940s they were used for pilots to practice shooting at airborn targets. Click here for more.
Benjamin Franklin used a kite in 1752 to study the atmosphere and prove that lightning was electric. Click here to find out what he did but don't try it at home! It's a wonder that he wasn't killed. You can also find out on this page how kites have been used to help build bridges (yes, really!).
One Chinese tradition is linked with the Lantern Festival. People used to believe that the God of Wealth would come down to Earth on New Year's Eve, and had to be sent back to heaven during the Lantern Festival to bring good luck for the coming year. Click here for more.
In Nepal some people used to believe that flying kites sent a message to the Gods not to send any more rain. Some people still believe you can used a kite to guide the soul of a dead relative to heaven.
In Japan, kites are flown to celebrate the birth of a son. Up 'til 1914 the largest kite in the world was a Japanese wan-wan which was over 35 metres across. It took 200 men to fly it!
Kite festivals
Battle of the sexes
In Thailand you don't just fly kites... you fight with them! This is the battle of the sexes like you've never seen before...
The battle is a team sport. One team flies male "Chula" kites, the other female "Pakpao" kites.
The Chula is a huge kite (over 2 metres long!), shaped like a five-pointed star, and has barbs attached to its string for snagging a female Pakpao kite.
The Pakpao is what we in the UK would call a "kite-shaped" kite, and it's less than half the size of the Chula. It is equipped with a noose of string dangling below it with which it can catch and bring down a Chula. It's also a lot more manoeuvrable because it's so much smaller.
The two teams compete to bring down kites belonging to the other team.
Click here for more about kites and kite festivals in Thailand.
Family fun from dawn 'til night
In Gujarat (in India) a huge kite or patang festival is held every year at Ahmedabad on January 14, at the same time as the festival of Uttarayan.
During the day families go out with kites who's strings have been covered in a special mixture of glue and ground glass, so they can cut down the kites of their friends and neighbours!
After dark, box kites called tukals are flown with lanterns inside so they light up the sky.
More on this festival here.
Other links
How to make a Japanese Hata kite
How do kites fly & traditional stories about kites
Kites around the world
Light festivals Puppets International board games International food Mehndi