Plastic Bag Kites

Plastic bag kites are genius! I am not the genius who thought of this, but if you are coming here looking for easy ideas to keep your energetic little ones busy, I would be remiss not to include this one for you.

These kites are the easiest thing in the world — are you ready? You just tie a string around the handles of a plastic grocery bag, and you’re done. That’s it. I keep the strings fairly short (about 3 feet) to make the kites easy to fly, but other than that, there’s really no tricks or tips. Snip the yarn, tie a knot, and send the kids outside to run around and have fun. The wind will catch the bag, and even on calm days, these will fly if the kid runs hard enough.

You can decorate your plastic bag kites, but I wouldn’t recommend trying to use markers or crayons. Stickers work perfectly, though, and my kids love decorating their kites with scenes from the great Paw Patrol, My Little Pony, and Budget Ocean Life Sticker book mash-up. This activity is part of the larger activity group “Trash Toys” that we’ve been getting into since March. With running to the store to grab supplies out for the last little bit, we’ve been getting more and more creative. Take these toilet paper roll binoculars, for instance, or rock snakes, or even the ever popular marshmallow (or pompom) shooters.

I love trash toys — they’re cheap, they’re simple, they require the kids to use some creativity or energy, and best of all, they’re disposable. I don’t have to feel bad about cleaning away these kites once we’re done. Trash toys came from the trash, and to the trash they can return with no guilt. Fun, excitement, and no clutter — count me in!