Help Us Celebrate National Kite Month!
March 26 – May 1st
Spring is coming and with it, an exciting opportunity to reconnect with friends, family, and the great outdoors through kiting! Kiting is truly a universal activity, limited only by the imagination and celebrated in many cultures throughout the world. For some, kites conjure nostalgic memories of good times spent with those they care about, out in nature, enjoying the peace and freedom associated with flying a kite. For others, their minds go to the challenge and excitement of flying stunt or power kites. No matter what type of kite you like to fly, or if you are new to the sport, we invite you to join us in actively celebrating National Kite Month 2011!
National Kite Month is the product of a yearlong effort by kite professionals, enthusiasts, supporters, manufacturers, and friends working to promote the wonderful qualities that kite flying has to offer people of all ages & physical ability levels. The year’s efforts reach a culmination in spring as the American Kitefliers Association (AKA) and the Kite Trade Association International (KTAI) sponsor and support a series of events around the world.
This year, our goal is to have 600 kite events worldwide during National Kite Month. An event doesn’t have to be a big festival; we encourage local fun flies, kite making workshops, indoor flies, buggy races, kite displays in public libraries and malls, and school demonstrations.
We urge individual enthusiasts, local kite clubs, local service clubs, schools, parks and AKA or KTAI members all to plan and organize events. To make this possible, the National Kite Month Headquarters will provide logistical support. In addition, a web resource has been created with great event ideas, workshop templates, kite building instructions and a master event calendar and more!
Please visit the site at www.nationalkitemonth.org
To further encourage participation, the two organizations, AKA and KTAI, are offering financial support to those who are eager to develop kite related events during the National Kite Month dates and beyond.
Again, you can simply visit the NKM website for instructions and guideline related to financial sponsorships.
Here are just a few ideas on events or activities that you can bring to your area:
- Supporting the big events in your area by attending or volunteering!
- Becoming a Kite Advocate!
- Organizing a local fly! Or, organize a few events throughout the month…the more the better!!
- Contacting your local store and offering to help them with a reception!
- Scheduling an indoor kite demonstration! (A REAL MEDIA DRAW!)
- Contacting your local library or shopping mall and offer to help set up a kite display for the month!
- Posting kite information (& links to this site and others) on your web sites!
- Lobbying your local park district to keep wide-open spaces for kiters!
- Calling your local school, park district, or public library and offering to present a kite workshop!
- Contacting your local hobby shop and ask them to carry kites! Be sure to give them the link to the KTA!
- Emailing CNN, ESPN, or any of the other major networks and ask them to show footage of kiting!
- Inviting your local celebrities (Mayors, Athletes, Police Officers, Etc) to try kiting (Don’t forget to get the media there)!
- Organizing a kite fly as part of a fund raising project for charity!
- Inviting members of other established community action groups to attend a kite fly (Kiwanis, Girl & Boy Scouts, Jaycees, etc.)
We are particularly excited to offer teachers and educators a range of resources that will enable them to bring kiting into the classroom, while facilitating learning.
The Resources for Teachers section is designed to help an elementary school teacher present a short unit on kites, including conducting a simple classroom kite-making workshop. (If you want to build a kite, look on the Plans page. To celebrate the Wright Brothers first flight, use the resources on the History page.)
Contact our national office to register your National Kite Month event. To help us help your event be successful, you need to register all National Kite Month activities (by April 25) and allow us to update our master calendar.
You can reach us by email at admin@nationalkitemonth.org.
And don’t forget… fly a kite and celebrate the sky!