Help Me To Do It All By Myself!

A couple of weeks ago when the school year was coming to a close, KAP Jasa Kite Society was invited to a special place to do a special thing: Montessori Academy Ljubljana asked us to do a kite workshop for their kids!

As we knew there were kids from say 6 to 14 years of age, we decided to do two different kites; a simple sled for little ones, and a patang-like kite (suggested by our friends from Croatian Kite Association for its simple and effective design) for older kids. We gathered all the material and drove to a nice villa in the suburbs, nicely shaded under a grove of old beeches.

What we did not expect was there were over 40 kids! The impending vacations meant there were only two members of KAP Jasa do the workshop, and we immediately felt overwhelmed by a flock of excited children eager to make and fly kites!

Luckily two things helped us out. One was the kids were schooled by the Montessori principles - learning by doing, self-sufficiency, confidence, willingness to ask for help, and hands-on approach: "Help me so I can do it all by myself!"

The other was that we had our associated member, a kite making master and kite workshop supremo Maša with us. Maša is also a Montessori alumna; she had just finished her ninth (and last) grade at another Montessori school, and she knows all the tricks.

A couple of hours of cutting paper and sticks, gluing them together, making colourful tails and bridling the kites later - with many a hilarious moment and with us getting lost from time to time just to have Maša pull us out of trouble - we went outside where a soft afternoon sun and a perfect wind greeted us.

The kites flew and coloured up the sky!

There are few so cool things as are the kids' eyes that light up when a kite that they made themselves takes into the sky, fluttering higher and higher. "I made this! It flies! Look!"

We had a large Rokkaku - MASAG β - and the Trilobite with us to make a show, but a most funny thing happened. While large kites are usually a magnet for kids, this time they had a poor effect - the kids were completely focused on flying their own kites! They were all like "yeah, that huge kites is cool - but look at mine go up!" :-)

Over 50 kites flew that day, rising into the sky, getting devoured by the hungry kite-eating trees, getting tangled together, crashing to the ground, torn and crumpled. And over 80 eyes were shining that day, proud of their work and mesmerised by all the paper kites dancing in the wind.

And we felt proud too. For kids are like kites: with a gentle pull they soar; and we brought them together on a beautiful, unforgettable summer afternoon.

Such cool kite workshops are really a bliss - so big thanks to Elvira and Anka and all the teachers and especially all the kids for this really cool experience!

You want us to do a kite workshop for you, your school or kindergarten, at your birthday party? Drop us an e-mail at kap.jasa@gmail.com!