kiting for everyone
There are many ways people can have fun with kiting.
Here are a few ideas:
Artists & Makers
Do you like to paint, sew, quilt, or craft?
Kites can be painted, sewn, or made from a variety of materials that you might even find around your house – including coffee filters! Kites can be very elaborate or quite simple.
Gaze at some photos of artistic kites for inspiration or look at our kite plans for other crafty ideas.
Athletes & Sport Kiters
Are you up for a physical challenge?
Learn to fly a sport kite and then join a team or a free fly. Get inspired to fly indoors using the wind that you generate by graceful movement.
If you enjoy a big adrenaline rush, let the wind take you into power or traction kiting and propel you behind a buggy, skateboard, kiteboard, skis, or even roller skates.
Engineers
Would you like to design something that fliers, something that nobody else has thought of?
There are new styles of kites being designed every day, some that fly indoors on no wind at all, some that involve 3-D printing of their parts, some using new materials.
New designs, new structures – it’s really amazing to see imaginative new kites.
Competitors
Are you inspired by a love of competition?
Sport kiters compete in a variety of individual and team events showing their skill at individual precision flying or competing in a team, either locally or at our annual convention.
Or learn to make kites at a kitemakers retreat and then compete with it at a local or national festival.
Event Organizers & Volunteers
Do you have a charity or organization that you work with?
We have information on organizing your own kite festival, or our event calendar can help you find a festival or kitemaking event in your area.
New to kiting? Volunteering at a local event is a great way to find out more about kites.
Families & Children
Make a kite with your kids!
Kiting is an ideal activity for parents and children. You can make a kite with your children from paper, sticks, and glue and then go fly your kite!
Many of our members have had a lifetime of teaching kitemaking classes after being inspired by flying kites with their families.
Photographers
Kite festivals are a wonderful source of images of colors and characters to inspire photographers.
Check out the photos on this website and then go and start clicking!
Or get involved in the activity of Kite Aerial Photography (KAP), which is a lifting a camera with a kite and then triggering the camera either remotely or automatically to take aerial photographs.
Scientists
Kites have been used for scientific experiments for centuries. Did you know that NASA now uses kites in certain experiments?
NASA has a program called AEROKATS (Advancing Earth Research Observations with Kites and Atmospheric/Terrestrial Sensors). The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Wallops Flight Facility is a major research center for this program.
The AEROKATS program uses low altitude custom remote sensing platforms for agricultural and environmental research purposes using kites.
Teachers & Students
Kites are a great learning source for students of all ages.
Young children can learn shapes, decorate kites, and see their creations fly. Older children and teens can learn science, physics, and engineering by building and flying more elaborate kites.
There are many materials online for teaching STEM with kites. Start with our publication about teaching with kites.
Leisure Seekers
Flying kites can be a great way to relax and just let the time go by.
Being outside with a nice spot to sit or lie down and a nice breeze – a kite in the sky can offer many kinds of comfort and food for thought.
In addition to this, there are lots of wonderful places to travel to for the enjoyment of being part of festivals, meeting new friends, and exploring new surroundings.
