TITLE: CHINESE KITE AUTHOR: Mary Ellen Gill, Cascade, WA GRADE LEVEL/SUBJECT: Third grade and the subject area focused on was art. OVERVIEW: Chinese kites were made as the final project to a book students had been working on.ÿ PURPOSE: The purpose of this activity was for the students to learn how to make their own Chinese kite. Students had been working on a Chinese book, comparing the differences in the cultures and customs of the United States and China. Many of the projects in the book were art projects. The Chinese kite tied everything together. OBJECTIVES: The objective for this lesson was for each student to make their own kite and fly it. RESOURCES/MATERIALS: White butcher paper- large enough to put a 12" by 36" shape on. Newspapers- to paint on Scissors Tempra Paint- assorted colors Paint brushes Glue- Elmers works the best Kite string Kite string holder Pipe cleaners- assorted colors Crepe paper- assorted colors ACTIVITIES: Chinese kites can be most any design that can fly. I chose fish for my students because they can be so colorful. Each student was given an outline of a fish to cut out. The size was 12" by 36". You could make templets for the students if you wish, and have the students trace their fish and then cut it out. After the fish are cut out, they were painted. Students may paint their fish any color they wish. We had polka dots, stripes, multi-colored, solid colored, etc.. Be sure to explain that each student is to paint one side of each fish. Make sure that the students paint the correct side of the fish. Have them paint one side of one fish and then match up the other side so they know which side to paint. Otherwise the fish will not match up. After the fish are painted they are glued together.Make sure the paint is dry before you begin to glue. Glue is placed along the inside edges of the fish. The mouth is left open and the tail can be left open if the student wishes. The next step is to place crepe paper on the tail. I put three pieces on each tail. They were about 18" long, and the color matched the colors of my fish.ÿ The mouth is the hardest part to do and will require that students work in pairs or there is plenty adult help in the room. The students take two pipe cleaners and twist them together to make a circle. This is then placed in the mouth and the mouth folds over the circle and is glued in place. This needs to dry thoroughly. After the glue has dried four pieces of kite string are tied to the mouth equal distances apart. Then the four pieces are tied as one about 12" from the mouth. The kite string that is aFfixed to an empty paper towel holder, or kite string holder is then tied to those four pieces of string. After that is done, the student is ready to fly the kite. This kite is really a fun activity but the students need to know that it acts more like a wind sock than a kite. Encourage your students to be creative in how they glue this together. The object is to make sure there is a wind passage from the mouth to the tail. TYING IT ALL TOGETHER: All of the students helped each other. All were finished at about the same time. When everyone was finished we all went outside and flew the kites. The newspaper in our hometown came and took pictures. It was a great ending to a terrific project. Every student had a book and a kite to take home and they were all very proud of what they had done.
Click here to return to OFCN's Academy Curricular Exchange
Click here to return to OFCN's Academy
Click here to return to OFCN's Main Menu
John Kurilecjmk@ofcn.org