Kite Flying – Week 2 of 52 Weeks of Toddler Experiences

WEEK 2 – KITE FLYING!

To see all our experiences, click here

So this was fun! But also tricky!

Background story: we have been reading The Berenstein Bears’ Big Red Kite book for a while now and it’s one of Lexi’s top 25 books (she usually has about 20-25 favorites at a time). It really is a great rhyming story that also teaches a lesson. We also have a Curious George book about Flying a Kite in both Russian (I had to order it in Russia and have m mom ship it) and English (and there is one based on the episode), and Lexi crushing on a character Bill in the story helped with the whole kite thing. So she was already too psyched to fly a kite. When I had attempted doing it about 6 months ago, she promptly ran away from it, didn’t want anything to do with it. Now that she is older AND she has had a lot of experience reading about kites, she was much more prepared and EXCITED to fly one.

The issue here was mommy had never flown a kite before and, most importantly, had never had set it up for a toddler. So our first several attempts were…. a failure. I could fly it myself easily enough if I cared to run, but Lexi wanted me to stay near and kept saying “Lexi try too! Lexi try too!”. So I was holding it up in the air over myself, twirling it to keep it from falling.

When I would hand it over to Lexi and send her running, it would instantly fall. Some of it was wind issue, other was that the string was WAY too long. For a kid that small it had to be really short for it to catch air while they are running.

Lexi was still super excited and, as you can see in the video, kept running back and forth trying to fly a kite.

Later that day, daddy came out and helped us out a bit and Lexi managed to catch some decent air.

From that day on, she has been requesting that we fly a kite almost every evening. Some days we’d have friends join us, others we’d go out as a family. But despite our bad experience flying a kite months ago and a few failed attempts, it looks like this week’s activity became a main staple in our house.

If you participated during Week #2, enter your photo/post link below in the linky tool for others to see:

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Our next week will likely be one of theses: Trolley Ride, Gather Shells or Go to the Zoo.

More on this project, additional lists and to join, click here!

HERE IS OUR LIST (PRINTABLE VERSION OF BOTH LISTS)

1. Backwards Day
   (Daniel Tiger episode tie in, Backwards Day book tie in)
2. Ride a pony/horse
   (Berenstain bears book tie-in)
3. Go to the airport and watch the planes land.
   (Curious George episode tie-in, Curious George book)
4. Go to a music shop and explore the instruments
   (Daniel Tiger episode tie in)
5. Go to a train museum SEE OUR WEEK HERE
6. Jump in Puddles (Weather contingent) (Hello, Fiends book) SEE OUR WEEK HERE
7. Feed ducks at the park (Curious George book)
8. Dance in the rain (Weather contingent) (Olivia book )
9. Plant something from seed and watch it grow OR plant a garden
   (Curious George episode tie in,  Little Critter book, Curious George book)
10. Climb a tree
11. Gather shells (Berenstain Bears book)
12. Ride a trolley (Daniel Tiger themed)
13. Go to the lake to look for tadpoles
    (Curious George episode tie-in, Curious George book tie in)
14. Go on a scavenger hunt in the woods
    (Curious George episode tie in, another Curious George episode tie-in Berenstain bears: nature’s guide (this is a great book for a scavenger hunt and it rhymes)
15. Fly a kite SEE OUR WEEK HERE
    (a great rhyming Berenstain bears book, Curious George episode, Little Critter book)
16. Roast marshmallows by the fire
    (OLIVIA tie in)
17. Play in the snow (Location contingent)
18. Go to an aquarium
    (Berenstain Bears book, Little Critter book, Curious George book)
19. Have a picnic – complete with basket and red checkered blanket. (Berenstain Bears book – another great funny rhyming book)
20. Lay out and look at stars (Curious George episode tie-in)
21. Go camping unplugged (phones turned off)
    (Daniel Tiger episode tie in, Curious George episode tie in, Little Critter book tie in, Curious George book tie-in,  OLIVIA book tie in other camping books)
22. First movie theater movie (Curious George book)
23. Go to a petting zoo!
24. Listen to a thunderstorm (Weather contingent.)
    (Daniel Tiger Episode tie in, Little Critter book tie in)
25. Have a Family Movie Night with snacks  SEE OUR WEEK HERE
26. Run around the grass in a park, barefoot, as a family
27. Pick fruit at a farm SEE OUR WEEK HERE
    (Daniel Tiger episode , Curious George book)
28. Make Snow/Sand Angels
29. Make pinecone and peanut butter bird feeders and hang them in the yard
    (Curious George tie-in)
30. Draw with chalk on the driveway/sidewalk
31. paddle a canoe down the river
    (Curious George episode tie-in)
32. visit a tidepool  (Weather contingent)
33. Egg Dying (Curious  George book)
34. Go to see a boat show (at Christmas)
35. Go on a sunset cruise on a boat
    (Curious George episode tie in)
36. Make giant bubbles in the yard SEE OUR WEEK HERE
37. go to a waterpark
38. go to  Botanical gardens
39. Go bowling
    (Curious George episode , Curious George book)
40. Jump on the bed/couch/furniture together (5 Little Monkeys book) SEE OUR WEEK HERE
41. Get long newsprint/butcher’s  paper and trace/color your hands, feet and bodies!
42. Make cookies together
43. Play Hide and Seek
44. Build a fort out of blankets and pillows (The Fort that Jack Built book)  SEE OUR WEEK HERE
45. Go to the Zoo
    (Curious George episode, Curious George book)
46. Go on a family bike ride through the woods
47. Make newspaper planes
48. Get a few giant cardboard boxes play pretend with them!
49. play tennis
50. play miniature golf
    (Curious George book)
51. Ride a roller coaster SEE OUR WEEK HERE
    (Curious George episode , Curious George book)
52. Ride a train
    (Berenstain Bears book tie-in)