• Kite crafts entertain children and adults.kite image by Gabees from Fotolia.com
  
  Most children (and many adults) enjoy flying kites. They love watching the kites fly in the air with a colorful tail drifting behind. Kites can help teach a child discipline through the subtle movements necessary to control one without crashing it. Similarly, kite crafts can help teach children how and why kites fly. Other kite crafts may simply feed their interests by decorating their rooms or their person. Use kite crafts as a way to pass rainy days--they not only entertain your child indoors, but you can promise them another new activity when the weather becomes sunny again.
  
  

Tiny Flying Kite

• This craft is perfect for small children or as a child's first kite. Glue four Popsicle sticks together in the shape of a diamond and let them dry. Cut out a diamond-shaped piece of tissue paper or a piece of a plastic grocery bag (this is a good way to recycle). Glue the edges of the paper or plastic to the stick diamond. Your child can paint or color the paper or plastic before you glue it down if desired; make sure not to glue rhinestones or use a lot of stickers on your kite as their weight will prevent the kite from flying. Glue three short pieces of string to the top and side corners of the underside of your kite. Glue a fourth very long string to the bottom corner and knot all four strings together. Create a tail for your kite by cutting medium-length string and tying pieces of colored tissue paper or grocery bag around it. Staple it to the bottom corner as a guide weight and take it flying.
  
  

Kite Earrings

• This craft works well for older children and teens as it requires fine motor skills and the use of sharp objects. If desired, stain two Popsicle sticks with a little wood stain or give them a funky look with a food-coloring wash. Split both Popsicle sticks in half lengthwise with a utility knife and cut each new stick in half widthwise. Glue your eight new small sticks into two diamond shapes. You can use any paper you like for this project; origami paper, rice paper, colored or printed tissue paper or even remnant fabric all work very well. Create a tiny tail for each kite with embroidery thread and very small pieces of ribbon and glue them to the bottoms of your kites. attach fish hook earring backs to the tops of each kite to finish. If you like, you can glue tiny jump rings to the kites' bottoms instead of tails and attach wire strung with little bird, butterfly, and ladybug charms.
  
  

Kite Suncatchers

• This craft is diverting for children of any age or skill level; it can be made more complicated, or kept simple, depending on what your child can tackle. Glue four Popsicle sticks together in a diamond shape to form a kite frame. You can make just one or several frames, depending on whether you just want to hang a single kite or use them as a creative window treatment. Cut out two waxed paper diamonds for each kite frame you made and sprinkle crayon shavings over one piece of every pair of waxed-paper diamonds. Lay the other piece on top and iron gently to melt the wax and created a stained glass look. You can stop here and glue the cooled waxed paper into the frames and hang them. For older children, you may want to substitute transparency film for waxed paper and use a hairdryer to melt the wax before you put on the top transparency. Once cool, use a rubber stamp and embossing powder to add patterns to your kites.