Social Distancing with Young Kids: Grab a Kite!

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It's a bit unnerving to get out of the house for a walk during enforced social distancing when you have young kids (4-6) who are crazy energetic but forgetful and would not easily tolerate face masks. How do you keep them away from passersby without constant nagging?

Today, we had a brilliant approach: short-leash kite flying!


What you need:
- small kite, 5-6ft long handle-to-tail (see bottom of post)
- windy day
- kids.

It worked out wonderfully, every person instinctively gave us a wide berth, trying to avoid a fluttering kite tail in their face. The kids had a natural constant reminder to stay away from others - they don't want their kite all tangled up!

Plus I've had the most fun with kites as I've had in years - thank you, Aeolus!

Here I am with Fae, we were flying the story kite for the first part of the walk, until Gaius's original kite got its wing broken and we swapped with him:



The kites are geniusly simple, from a Kiwi Crate we had a while ago, "Fun with Flight". They are very easy to make and likely easy to do with makeshift home materials - replace the thin light plastic sheet with paper; the fold is akin to a paper airplane. A regular drinking straw gives it structure, a piece of plastic tape and yarn for the tail and leash.




Here are some more snapshots from the walk:



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