How to Make an Afghan Kite

Kite flying in Afghanistan is one of the most famous hobbies and pass-time. Children from the school age to adults of older ages all can be seen flying kites in Afghanistan. Kites in Afghanistan are made of plastic or paper. Like the kites from many other countries, in Afghanistan too, people decorate their kites and make them from colorful paper and plastics.

Kite flying in Afghanistan is not only a pass time but is also a competition. They compete in what is called “kite fighting”, in Afghanistan. In A kite fight two expert kite flyers fly their kites and then try to cut loose the other party’s kite in the air. And for this purpose they need a kite string that can cut well, therefore they prepare a type of string that is glass coated.  They coat the string of the kite with powdered glass to increase its cutting ability. Any kite that is cut lose is a free kite and whoever catches it, owns it.

The very basic type of kite that Afghans make is the plastic kite. Which is made of plastic and bamboo sticks. This type of kite is durable and easy to make, and is capable of flying higher than a thousand feet easily. In the Accompanying video we will show you how to make your own kite. The following are some of the kite related vocabulary.

Taar     تار                         string

Plasteek  پلاستیک              plastic

Baangs  بانگس                  bamboo stick

Qaichee قیچی                   scissors

Gudee paraan گودی پران   kite

Sheesha                  شیشه glass/ powdered glass used for coating the string.