Home >> Toys >> Construction Toys

How to Make a Simple Delta Kite

Delta, a symbol for the letter "D" in the Greek alphabet, is shaped like a triangle. Making a kite with a triangle shape is easy. No matter the size, the kite will always have a 90-degree right angle and two 45-degree angles forming equal sides.

Things You'll Need

1 piece of window shade bamboo or 1/8-inch diameter wooden dowel, 20 inches long (keel spar)
2 pieces of window shade bamboo or 1/8-inch diameter wooden dowel, 21inches long (wing spars)
20-inch long, 1/8-inch dowel (spreader bar), 1
20 x 30-inch sheet tissue paper (modeling grade tissue), 1
Wood/paper glue (Elmer's or equivalent)
Kite string and reel or holder
1/2-inch masking tape

Instructions

- 1
  Cut tissue from a 20 x 30-inch piece. One wing is 20 x 23 inches. This is to be used as the second wing. Set aside. The remaining tissue is the same size plus a keel. Fold under the bottom 7 x 20 inch rectangle on the first wing section. The first wing with attached piece is now the same size as the second. Draw the keel on this attached piece. First draw a line from the left-hand corner of the fold to a point three inches in. Next measure and draw a second point on the bottom from the left-hand corner eight inches in. Next draw the two points to form a line. This line is the short side of the keel. The remaining 17 inches on the wing fold is the long side of the keel. Use a ruler to draw the short side up to meet the long side to form a triangle. Cut out keel drawn lines only. Leave the long side of the keel attached to the bottom of the wing section. See the pictorial for Step 1 in the reference.
- 2
  Glue the wing sections together. The keel is now underneath and the second wing will form the delta shape of a right isosceles triangle. Use a 1/4-inch overlap when gluing the wings together.
- 3
  Add 21-inch spars to the wings opposite the center spar. Glue the keel center spar in place and use masking tape to support the nose. Do not fold paper over spars. Simply glue in place and let dry.
- 4
  Punch a towing hole on tip of keel. Reinforce with masking tape. There will be a lot of strain at this point, especially in wind gusts. Glue a small washer over the keel hole.
- 5
  Add 20-inch spreader bar over the keel spar and through the keel. Do not connect to the keel spar. Allow it to free float. Instead, connect spreader bar tips to the wing spars. Reinforce with tape and glue. The spreader bar should be small enough to bring the wings into a "V" shape when holding the kite straight on and viewing from the front end.

Construction Toys