March BLOWS IN like a lion--it also blows kites around--and the children LOVE it!  So, why not have them make a kite or two and go out and enjoy that breezy March weather.

Plastic Kite (traditional shape)



Materials Needed:

Large recycle plastic sheet (we used the lid of a pound of spring salad mix)
Scissors
Markers, paints or stickers to decorate kite
hole punch
yarn or string
scrap pieces of ribbon, binding or material for tail

Directions:

Cut kite shape out of plastic sheet.
Decorate the kite shape with stickers, paint or markers.
Punch two holes 1" off the sides of  center line of the kite 1/3 down on the length of the kite.
Punch a hole at the bottom point area of the kite.
Tie the scrap ribbon/material scraps onto one yarn piece to form the tail bits of the kite.
Attach this tail through the hole you punched at the bottom of the kite.
Attach a "flying" string through the two holes at the upper 1/3 of the kite. (Make sure you connect the string in the front of the kite by going front to back through one hole and coming back to the front through the second hole before tying). This string can be wrapped around a pencil, cardboard, etc, if you want a long string to fly the kite.
Go out and fly your kite.

This activity is great for bilateral fine motor control, can be a great activity for graphic skills if you give the children a specific idea for decorating like the alphabet, a weather theme, etc. Fine motor pinch is utilized to attch the strings and tails of the kites.  Flying the kite involves gross motor skills.


BOX KITE



Materials Needed:

Craft Foam
Plastic Straws
Pipe Cleaners
Scissors
Glue
String

Directions:

Cut  two 1" by 8 1/2" strips of the craft foam.
Fold foam in 2" sections until folded up with 1/2" overlap.
Cut two slits in each fold (so you can slip straws through).
Unfold and then make square shape of the craft foam and glue overlap to hold square shape.  Let dry.
Cut straws and pipe cleaners in half.
Insert a pipe cleaner into each straw--you should have 1/2" of pipe cleaner hanging out of each end of the straw.
Insert a straw "pipe" into one corner slip on the craft foam square.  Push through to the other slit and tbend the pipe cleaner part over to secure the "pipe".
Repeat on the second craft foam square.
Continue until you have" pipes" holding all four corners of the kite together.
Connect the string to fly the kite to one of the "pipes".
Take your kite out and fly it.

This kite utilizes a lot of bilateral motor control and pinch grasp. Cutting with scissors on craft foam may be difficult for young hands and they may need some assistance doing this, but it is good practice. A hole punch can be substituted to punch holes instead of cutting slits. We did try this with paper, but the wind blew it apart, however, when we reinforced it with cardboard (by gluing the cardboard to the construction paper and letting the glue dry), it did hold up for 1-2 days of flying.