Kites are popular gifts on Children's Day. Japan's colorful kites take fantastic forms — from insects to dragons, samurai warriors to clowns. In this project we'll make a kite featuring Kintoki, one of Japan's favorite folk heros. Kintoki, shown on the kite to the left, was raised in the woods by bears and grew up to become the strongest man in Japan.

In this project you can print out and construct the kite of Kintoki. Or if you're feeling creative, paint your own design on a simple rectangular kite. Here's a list of the materials you'll need:

Then print out the Kintoki kite Or paint a Japanese design on a blank piece of paper which you can also print out.
Kintoki Kite - Blank Kite

After you have cut out the kite shape you need to cut and glue the balsa wood into the shape shown. Be sure to lay out each balsa stick on the back of the kite to determine the proper length for each stick.

Trim the four corners as shown on the print-out. Fold the top and bottom flaps of the kite over the upper and lower balsa sticks. Glue it down.

Tie 3 6" strings to the kite frame at the location of each X. Then tie together the strings and attach a longer roll of string at the point where the three strings come together.