Classroom Projects: EDUCATION THROUGH FUN

What potential does the kite have as a teaching tool? I have suggested that the world is open. The range of learning offered by the humble kite is astounding. Teachers need to set parameters around the kite as an activity that is both stimulating and of long-range value to the learner. There are three approaches to the use of kites in the classroom.

1. Have a great kite-fest just for the fun of it
2. Weave the kite into the curriculum you are using
   focusing on what you enjoy and want your students to know.
3. Develop a mini unit around the kite
   focusing on one dimension, say, the physics of flight,
   or several dimensions, say the origin of kites in China, and the history of kites.

Kites and kiting can be a direct teaching tool, using approved pedagogy and methods of evaluation. Lessons learned can be indirect, that is, kiting can open the mind of kids to the greater world of scientific discovery and technological inventions, while contributing to more social dimensions of learning, and above all, to the experience of life in nature, which always includes life against nature.

The most immediate goal of a kite unit in the curriculum should be to further an ordered and disciplined approach to the acquisition of skills. We need not tell you that learning is very individual. The originality and beauty of the kites made in the classes we have attended would make an artist envious. On the other end of the spectrum, we have helped kids tie their first knot in a line. Well, both found pleasure in the activity, and both learned something of value.

Classes, or projects, involving kite making and flying elicit immediate fun, challenge and excitement. The reward is immediate too. In elementary grades, many parents and guardians join our classes, which makes the kiting day a real event in the life of the children.

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Kites in the Classroom

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