Ideas to Go
Let’s Go Fly a Kite! Girl Guide Trefoil Mini-Kite Here’s an idea that combines science, technology, engineering and math with crafts. This mini-kite lends itself to experimenting with aerodynamics and provides a great decoration for meetings, events and cookie sales venues. What You Need • letter-sized copy paper and colour printer • *trefoil pattern template (see the image below for the URL to the template) • two 8-inch (21 cm) bamboo shish-kabob sticks • light-weight ribbon or surveyor’s flagging tape • 6 to 10 feet (2 to 3.5 metres) of string • a 6-inch (15 cm) length of 1-inch x 3-inch (2.5 x 7.5 cm) doweling (wooden rod) • hole punch • tape • scissors
What You Do 1. Print a colour copy from the *trefoil pattern template. 2. Lay the paper on a firm, flat surface in landscape (horizontal) format – trefoil image facing up. 3. Fold the paper in half, along the centre black line. 4. Fold the paper along the black diagonal line; turn over and repeat on the other side. 5. Turn the paper image side down and tape the spine, securing the two folds together. 6. Turn the paper image side up and punch a hole through the matching black dots. 7. Turn the paper image side down again, and tape the cross stick perpendicular to the spine, from corner to corner at the top. 8. With the image still facing down, tape the ribbon tail to the bottom of the kite. 9. Flip the kite to image side up and fold the spine back and forth. 10. Tie a string through the hole and secure the end to the doweling, wrapping the string around it. Now, go fly your kite! Bring your scissors, tape and extra string and ribbon with you, in case you need to cut knots and tangles or make a new tail. On windy days, a longer tail helps balance the kite. Experiment to see what works best. Remember to display your kites at Guiding events and Girl Guide cookie sales venues. Editor’s Note: If this is your idea, please let us know, so we can give you credit in the next issue of Canadian Guider. Write to: cdngdr@girlguides.ca
ctions and Word file of these instru *To download a PDF or tructions Ins e , look for Trefoil Kit a template for the kite under ties tivi te in Challenges/Ac and Trefoil Kite Templa
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