MULTIPLE FISH KITES ~ to fly on Good Friday

In Bermuda people make homemade kites and fly them on Good Friday to celebrate the risen Christ. I have taken the idea and am using it with my Sunday School students as a whole group multi age craft lesson. We will be making huge tissue paper creations that won't actually 'fly' in the true sense of the word. But they will be able to be wafted around using balloon sticks with an elastic string that attaches to the fish. Then the children can wave or bobble their fish around.

To create the fish we use a basic fish pattern of two back to back tissue forms. These are glued only along the top and bottom leaving the mouth and tail ends open. Next we stuff lightly with newspaper. Once that is done an oak tag mouth is fitted in the mouth end and glued in place.

Next the scales are applied. This is really easy and fun. Thin ribbons of elmers glue are run up and down along the fish in vertical lines. Before the glue dries...( this takes a while) we use tissue paper rounds. These are 4" wide and are available from craft supply houses in colorfast tissue packs of about 480 per pack. We cut these circles in half and just start laying them all over the fish where the glue is. Starting at the back, the process is fairly easy. When one side is done we switch to the other side and since the tissue scales cover all the glue it isn't too too messy. I do keep wet paper towels near the children so that they can easily clean their fingers from time to time.

A small amount of glitter can be added on one side if you wish. We use tiny glitter pens as they have a nice flow and dry quickly.

We use stick on eyes instead of plastic google eyes, since the stickers are lighter. When the fish is covered in scales the children can decide if they want to add a shredded tissue paper tail and then we attach the string and sticks and the fish are ready to bounce and fly. To attach the string I punch a hole in the bottom end of the mouth that was created with the oak tag glued inside the mouth to keep it open.


It makes a great party craft for kddie birthdays and even the boys love this one.....especially the "FLYING" part.
The large fish is approximately 28 inches long and the smaller one is about 18 inches.
Colorfast tissue comes in bulk also in an assortment of 24 colors per pack of 480. If you want any details on where to order, just email me and I'll be happy to give you the information.