Easy Kids Craft: Origami Kites

Spring is here, and I’ve been getting my craft on lately. I decided I wanted to make some pretty paper kites, ones I could use to decorate my daughter’s room, hang in front of windows, or make into a mobile. I also didn’t want to take a lot of time to make them either. ‘Cause I’m impatient like that. This is what I came up with – start to finish, less than 15 minutes.

These kites are super-easy to make, even 3 and 4 year olds can make them with a little help. And you can probably make them with whatever you have in your house right now.

What you Need to Make These Easy Origami Kites

1 Sheet of origami paper, or 6″ x 6″ piece of wrapping paper, patterned scrapbook paper, or even plain paper your child has colored

1 Toothpick

2 2′-3′ Pieces of raffia, embroidery floss, yarn or ribbon, plus 4 pieces about 6″ long

4 Pieces of scrap fabric, cut into 1/2″ by 3″ pieces (tissue paper could be substituted here, too)

Transparent tape

How to Make Easy Origami Kites

First, fold the paper as shown. Then tape one of the ends of your raffia, ribbon, or whatever you’re using, into the crease at the bottom of the kite.

Next, fold the kite back up, and tape a toothpick to the back flap of the paper. Now fold it down flat and tape the toothpick to the other flap. It will look like this when you’re done:

After you’ve taped both flaps to the toothpick, tie your second piece of raffia around the toothpick. Trim off the short end so that it tucks neatly inside the kite.

You’re almost done! Grab your fabric scraps and your extra raffia pieces. Get ready to tie them onto your kite tail.

Now all you have to do is tie them on to the tail! Raffia holds knots well, so I was able to keep these in place with little tying. But if you’re using ribbon, tie them on a little tighter. Do this three more times and space them out to make them relatively even on your kite tail. But don’t worry if they are uneven, that just adds to the charm. Snip off the ends of the short pieces of raffia, and viola! You have a kite!

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