It’s National Kite Flying Day! On this cold and snowy day, look to the wind, grab a friend, bundle up, and get to flying. Or maybe start with building a kite, save the flying for a warmer day. 

Whichever you choose to do, here are some fun facts about kites:

• The fastest speed recorded of a kite was 120 mph
• The world record for the longest kite fly is 180 hours
• You do not need wind to fly a kite
• Benjamin Franklin used a kite to prove that lightning was electricity
• People were flying kits 1,000 years before paper was invented

Kites have been used for countless things throughout the world’s history. Kites have been used in in battles and wars, the Japanese used them to lift tiles when building temples, they can be used for fishing and forecasting the weather, in 1901 a kite was used to transmit the first radio signal, and much more!

Want to work on a making a kite for your next adventurous day outside? 

Click here for 3 simple kites for adults and children

Or follow these instructions on how to make a garbage bag kite: 

1. Gather a plastic bag, string, two sticks, and ribbon
2. Take the two sticks and tie them together with the string, in a cross formation
3. Cut the garbage bag to fit the frame of the kite and tie the ends of the sail to the frame
4. Tie a piece of string from one end of the cross to the other, leaving some slack. Make a pyramid-like formation with the string, having tied three sides of it the sticks. 
5. Tie one end of the rest of the string to the middle of the pyramid-like formation
6. Tie a piece of ribbon to the end of the kite in order to help it balance
7. Go fly your new kite!

Kites are mainly used for fun now, but they have helped the world discover electricity and deliver notes when in war. We can learn a lot from flying a kite, especially about wind and the sky above us. Look for the next windy day, grab your kite, and get to flying.