Roller Kite by Kylie and Avery

As part of our Kite-making Unit in Mr. Skinner's Project Future class at Escalante Middle School, these instructions describe how to make a Roller Kite that looks like a duck.

Step 1: Materials

Gather your materials into a neat organized pile. You will need; 1 meter stick, 1 piece of 20"x30" yellow tissue paper, 1 piece of 20"x30" orange tissue paper, 3 bamboo skewers, 1 pair of scissors, 1 white piece of tissue paper (any size), 1 small black piece of tissue paper ,1 small piece of red tissue paper, pencil or pen, 2 binder clips, tape, Elmer's glue all, and string.

Step 2: Preperation

Fold the yellow and orange pieces of tissue paper in half (hamburger style)

Step 3: Measuring

Take the yellow piece of tissue paper make a mark 7.5in from the folded edge. Then, make a mark 12.5in at the bottom of the tissue paper. Next measure 15in up the folded edge. Now connect the two marks you made.

Step 4: Cut to Size

To keep the paper from separating, clip two binder clips to the top and bottom of the tissue paper. Then cut along the lines, unclip the binder clips and unfold the tissue paper the result will be the shape shown above (image 2).

Step 5: Orange Paper

Take the orange piece of tissue paper and lay it on your workspace. Because you have already folded the orange piece of tissue paper, you are now ready for the next step. At the bottom of the tissue paper measure 12.5in from the folded edge and make a small mark. Next, measure up 10in along the folded edge and make a mark.

Step 6: Connecting and Cutting

Draw a light pencil line connecting the two marks you made on the orange paper. Now use two binder clips to prevent separation while you are cutting across the light pencil line. Once you have completed cutting unclip the binder clips and unfold. The result should be a symmetrical triangle measuring 25in across the top and measuring 10in vertically.

Step 7: Decoration

Now you are ready to decorate your kite. Grab one piece of white tissue paper and draw an arch shaped figure that will be used as an eye. This figure should be about 11 in tall. Now carefully cut out the figure. Now, lay the other white piece of tissue paper on top of the cut out eye. Trace over the eye and cut out the new figure. You should now have two eyes that are exactly the same. To glue them on, lay a small trail of glue along the edge of the eye. Lastly, lay the eyes carefully onto the yellow sail. They should be centered and about 4 inches apart.

Step 8: Pupils

Now that you have the white part of the eyes glued on, it is time to make the pupils. Take a black piece of tissue paper and outline the rim of a solo cup or any round object. Repeat this step twice. If you want to get a realistic pupil shape, cut a small arc out of the edge of the black circle. Now cut out two small eyebrow shaped pieces and glue them above the eyes.

Step 9: Decorating the Beak

Now that the decorations are finished on the yellow sail, it is time to decorate the beak. First, grab your orange sail and a red scrap of tissue paper. Lay the red piece on top of the beak, but just a small sliver should be overlapping as show in the photo. Trace the sliver and cut it out. Repeat this step on the other side of the beak. You should now have the two slivers that will make up the red part of the inside of the mouth. Glue the edges and lay them carefully on the bottom side of the orange sail. See Photo. Lastly, cut out two small black circles and glue them to the beak. These will act as nostrils.

Step 10: Adding First Bamboo Spar

Once you finish the decorations, flip over your design so you can add the bamboo spars. Start by cutting one of your bamboo spars to 37 inches. Then take your meter stick and line it up with the bottom point of the beak and the center of the top of the yellow sail. Be sure to leave a 5 inch gap between the head and the beak. Once you have lined up the meter stick, take your Elmers Glue All and make a thin line along the edge of the meter stick. Carefully lay the spar on the glue line and hold it in place for at least 1 minute.

Step 11: Adding the Other Two Spars

Cut your other two spars to 27". Now lay your meter stick horizontally across the top of your yellow sail and use the Elmer's Glue All to make a line. Hold for 1 min and repeat on the top of your orange sail. Now to prevent ripping add little squares of yellow and orange tissue paper to intersecting spars.

Step 12: Attaching the Two Sails

Now take a small piece of tape and put it on the two free hanging corners of the yellow sail. Now, using your pencil, carefully poke a hole it the tape. This will be used to keep the paper from ripping when you attach the strings. Do this on both sides. Now, cut two pieces of string that are about 8 inches long. Weave one end of the string through the hole that you poked in the tape and tie it in a knot. Then tie the other end of the string to the overhanging spar on the top of the orange sail. Repeat this on both sides.

Step 13: Flexing

Cut two pieces of string that are about the width of the kite horizontally. Tie the end of the string to the overhanging edge of the bamboo spar. Bend the spar to create a flex. Now tie a loop on the other end of the string, that is the right length to hold the kite in a flex. Repeat on the orange sail.

Step 14: Attaching Bridal

Leave the kite flexed and use your pencil to poke two holes as close to the spar as you can, in 3 places. 1 on each end of the horizontal spar and one at the bottom of the vertical spar on the yellow sail. Cut three pieces of string that are about 30 inches long. Take one end of the string and poke it into one o the wholes from the top. Then curve it over and poke it back up through the other hole on the other end of the spar. The tie the end of the string to the rest of the piece. Repeat on all 3 points on the kite.