I made kites in the late 1940's.......some flew, most didn't, but wasn't it fun? :)

Two pieces of cane....some newspaper, lots of string and a weight to balance the tail according to wind strength.....anything would serve for perfect aerodynamics, a strong wind and a decent stretch of grass to run on for the launch and Bingo it either worked or it crashed dismally into the ground!

Guess what? All the little "darlings" can have lessons in kite-building next week at Boston Park Castle, off Moorgate, Rotherham! :o

I didn't need lessons, just a few bits and pieces of scrounged materials, a desire to succeed and oceans of "the right stuff" to cope with failure most of the time.

Here is the latest "comfort zone" article designed to mollycoddle the kids of today..........

SheffieldToday online (http://www.sheffieldtoday.net/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleID=2189047&SectionID=5544)

I used to attach string to bread bags to use as kites when I was little. Then again, I clearly wasn't particularly inventive :hihi: .

Kite-making lessons is an excellent idea for getting the little buggers away from the TV and out into the parks! There are loads of different types of kites to make, and it says in the article that all the materials are provided. I don't see your problem with it :huh: .

I used to attach string to bread bags to use as kites when I was little. Then again, I clearly wasn't particularly inventive :hihi: .

Kite-making lessons is an excellent idea for getting the little buggers away from the TV and out into the parks! There are loads of different types of kites to make, and it says in the article that all the materials are provided. I don't see your problem with it :huh: .

Hecate.....I didn't need an article in The Star, and a lesson in making the bl**dy things........

If you are all for being institutionalised.......that's your problem, not mine!

We were living in an age where spoon-feeding was unnecessary....maybe you weren't..........:cool:

Institutionalised? It's kite-making lessons!

The Star article says that children and adults can learn about it from the experts, so presumably they're talking about making kites using fabric, which is a bit of a skill.

My mum taught me how to knit, and I made a few plasticine pots as a kid too. That doesn't preclude me taking the odd knitting or pottery class to see how the experts do it.

Institutionalised? It's kite-making lessons!

The Star article says that children and adults can learn about it from the experts, so presumably they're talking about making kites using fabric, which is a bit of a skill.

My mum taught me how to knit, and I made a few plasticine pots as a kid too. That doesn't preclude me taking the odd knitting or pottery class to see how the experts do it.

So...perfection in design is something to be applauded....we can't allow kids to be "failures" can we?

Get real, Hecate.........these are kids!

Give them some newspaper pages, some string, a bl**dy pebble to weight the tail.........

It'll work, or it won't.......that's the way one learns, not some bl**dy expert telling them what to do, how to achieve it, with no brain input from the kids.

Using your system of achieving perfection does them no good.......life ain't perfect......they need to learn from their experience of the simple things in life, at their age!.

So...perfection in design is something to be applauded....we can't allow kids to be "failures" can we?

Get real, Hecate.........these are kids! ...
Where did I say anything about perfection in design or not allowing kids to be 'failures'? :huh:

It's an opportunity for kids and adults to get outside and learn something they might not previously know. Yes, you can improvise a kite, but some kids and adults might want to see what goes into making a kite they might buy in the shops, and how to make different sorts of kites.

Having a class in kite-making doesn't destroy their creativity and ability to improvise. Kids can go to all sorts of classes: exercise, ballet, art - anything! Of course they can improvise their own exercises, dancing and painting, but they might want to have the occasional class too, you know, for fun?

Where did I say anything about perfection in design or not allowing kids to be 'failures'? :huh:

It's an opportunity for kids and adults to get outside and learn something they might not previously know. Yes, you can improvise a kite, but some kids and adults might want to see what goes into making a kite they might buy in the shops, and how to make different sorts of kites.

Having a class in kite-making doesn't destroy their creativity and ability to improvise. Kids can go to all sorts of classes: exercise, ballet, art - anything! Of course they can improvise their own exercises, dancing and painting, but they might want to have the occasional class too, you know, for fun?

Have it your way, Hecate..I'll pull out of this thread....

I don't wish to argue with you.....my nose is not so far up in the air as yours obviously is!

Let's not bother letting kids these days make independent decisions, calculations and experiments for themselves.....some of them may get despondent/feel unworthy/shamed at their unsuccessful tries to make a simple kite fly/gain a university degree in aeronautics or have to suffer the slightest depression from trying something which may give them a feeling of failure, unworthiness or value in this Brave New World...as seemingly the likes of you seem to believe in..........

Hail the New World Order!.......Independent thought and experiment outside the Neocon Agenda is "STRICTLY FORBIDDEN!"

GOD HELP US ALL!:(

Brave New World? New World Order? Have you been on the sherry? They're kite-making lessons. A bit of fun!

::wanders off scratching head::

:huh:

Brave New World? New World Order? Have you been on the sherry? They're kite-making lessons. A bit of fun!

::wanders off scratching head::

:huh:

No....I am totally sober.......so don't come that one......you're too young for this Section anyway......so....just do one!

ps the Report post button is South East...you'll find it if you feel the need.....................

Stop rowing. Both of you. You are getting like my Old Lass.
Another thing, 'Shoeshine'. Do you really think that you can ever win a argument with a woman?!!! I've never won one yet (over fifty odd years)
Get thi sen back tu makin thi kites - I did, out of grease proof-paper and two garden canes.
In my younger days on the Manor Estate we use to fly them for hours off the bankside that was at the end of Waltheof Road.
Did anyone else?

Just to cheer everyone up.

A husband and wife came for counseling after 15 years of marriage.

When asked what the problem was, the wife went into a passionate, painful tirade listing every problem they had ever had in the 15 years they had been married.

She went on and on and on: neglect, lack of intimacy, emptiness, loneliness, feeling unloved and unlovable, an entire laundry list of un-met needs she had endured over the course of their marriage.

Finally, after allowing this to go on for a sufficient length of time, the therapist got up, walked around the desk and, after asking the wife to stand, embraced and kissed her passionately.

The woman shut up and quietly sat down as though in a daze. The therapist turned to the husband and said, "This is what your wife needs at least three times a week. Can you do this?"

The husband thought for a moment and replied, "Well, I can drop her off here on Mondays and Wednesdays, but on Fridays, I go Kite Flying!!".

Has that shut thi trap. - 'Shoeshine'?

I was just noseying through the expats section which I dont normally do, Im only 25. But I love this thread. (Not the arguing bit though :)) Do you know I have never flown or tried to make a kite! Its not something I can remember any of my friends doing either! I had computers, TV, Videos and I had a happy childhood however when I hear people say they did things so simple like this which sound so much fun I do wish I had been part of it. Weird for someone of my age to say? My older relatives always say although 'us' kids have more than they ever did, their childhood was alot simpler and happier. Weird.

I did play with marbles once...................:)

We used to make `em in the 60s. A couple of sticks, some strong paper and string.
If it isnt a remote controlled jet fighter that cost at least a couple of hundred quid, the kids of today simply arent interested.

I was just noseying through the expats section which I dont normally do, Im only 25. But I love this thread. (Not the arguing bit though :)) Do you know I have never flown or tried to make a kite! Its not something I can remember any of my friends doing either! I had computers, TV, Videos and I had a happy childhood however when I hear people say they did things so simple like this which sound so much fun I do wish I had been part of it. Weird for someone of my age to say? My older relatives always say although 'us' kids have more than they ever did, their childhood was alot simpler and happier. Weird.

I did play with marbles once...................:)

ShoeShine: Written instructions on how to build a kite required.
We may even finish up with a Sheffield Forum Kite Flyers Group.

I did play with marbles once...................:)


I used to play with marbles too, I had lots of them. Marbles of all colours and sizes.


I... seem to have lost them though...

just a few weeks ago i bought my kids a couple of kites and we went up to hathersidge and loved every minute of flying.....

just a few weeks ago i bought my kids a couple of kites and we went up to hathersidge and loved every minute of flying.....

It is lovely to read that. I hope others follow your example but I do hope that 'Shoeshine' writes the instructions regarding making your own Kite.
In the war years they were possibly the main toys that our generation had.

Box Kites were the best.....hard to make tho...Have look here.www.kckiteclub.org/DaveEllis/boxkite.htm or this www.geocities.com/p_leriche/wald/

Thank you TimBuck.
I'm going to obtain the materials and have a bash at building a ' Box kite '.

It's years since I last saw one. I can recollect flying one in the mid 1940s over the Manor Fields. A lot of children stood at the left-hand side edge of a cart track which ran from the end of Waltheof Road flying them.

This track after passing the anti aircraft gun batteries eventually finished at the railway Bridge near to Darnall Greyhound race track. Passing on its way a slag heap from Nunnery Colliery

On this Slag heap men played the illegal game of Tossing Coins in a Tossing Ring. Because the game was illegal some older boys earned a few pence acting as police watcher in the event of a raid.
Can anyone else add more to this?