Blogger / 4 May, 2020 / Nanny Anita

VE Day Peace Dove Kites

On Friday 8^th May we will be celebrating the 75^th anniversary of VE day.   I’ve been scratching my head over what we could make to celebrate it. Of course there is bunting, but I wanted something else. Something that symbolised the end of the war (at least in Europe) but still remembered those that had sacrificed so much for us.   Doves has been used for centuries in many cultures to represent peace, in ancient Japan a dove carrying a sword meant the end of war.   So what better craft to do than a peace dove kite? I took inspiration of my kite from the Japanese koinobori or carp kites.

Make sure you follow my craft board on Pinterest for more ideas. Don’t forget to save the pin for later. 

To make your own peace dove kite you will need:

• Peace Dove Kite Template
• Scissors
• Glue
• Tissue paper
• String
• Hole punch

Please forgive the quality of the pictures, I was trying to take them while BB was sitting on my lap.

Print off the peace dove kite template and cut it out. Cut down the black lines on the wings, this is so we can curl the individual feathers at the end. Don’t cut along the dotted lines.

Fold the body of the dove in half, then fold along the dotted line. Holding the bottom of the body you will want to now push down on the folded back. This peace dove kite should have a flat back when the edges have been glued together, giving a 3D appearance.

Open it all up and lay it face down on the table.

Next cut long strips of tissue paper and glue them where the tail should go. The first one I made I added too many strands. 3-4 should be perfect.

Then add some glue along the head and edge of the body, stopping about an inch before you get to your tail. Fold the dove in half again to secure it together, making sure that you push the back flat again.

Moving onto the wings; using a pen, wrap each feather around to curl them.

Fold the wings up along the dotted lines. Then glue that centre part to the back of the dove. The thicker part should be towards the head of the dove.

The final thing to do is to make a hole where the eye would be and tie some string to it.

My charge’s had fun running around the garden with these making them fly, I did eventually take peace dove kites off of them, just so that they would survive until 8^th May.   You can also tie them to trees so that the wind catches them like a kite.

Making the peace dove kites was a great way to discuss VE day with them, what the country did to celebrate, and why there were many people who didn’t want to celebrate.

If you enjoyed making these peace dove kites be sure to check out my paper kites and pom pom poppies.

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