Make an Awesome Shapely Kite

Before you begin, talk about the shapes you and your child want to put on your paper bag kite. For inspiration, look through a picture book about shapes together.

Decide on the size of your paper bag kite. For example, you can use a lunch bag for a small kite or a paper grocery bag for a big kite.

Decorate the bag with shapes using markers, crayons, or water-based paints. While your child draws, discuss what makes each shape unique. Ask your child about the shapes they are drawing by saying, "How many sides does each shape have? How many corners?" (The circle is a trick question!) Help your child to think about what objects are similar to the shapes they've drawn. For example, ask your child, "What shape is a plate? A slice of pizza? The kitchen table?"

Punch a hole in each corner of the paper bag’s open end — a total of four holes Make the holes about one inch away from the edge. Tip: If you don’t have a hole puncher, use the point of a pencil to punch through the paper. Strengthen the holes by covering them with masking tape and punching through the tape.

Cut five pieces of string or yarn, each about a yard long. Loop one piece of string through each hole and tie it. Set the last piece aside for later.

Gather the strings together about six inches from the opening (a foot if you are using a grocery bag), and tie them together with one end of the fifth piece of string. Make a knot. Cut off the excess string from the four pieces at the knot, leaving you with just one string extending out from the kite. This is the string you will hold to fly the paper bag kite.

On the bottom of the bag, use glue or tape to attach streamers made out of strips of newspaper, used grocery bags, or tissue paper.

Now your paper bag kite is ready to fly! Hold the kite by the string, face the wind, and run. The wind will fill the bag and lift it into the air. The longer the string, the higher it will go.