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ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:
DEVELOPMENT AID:
BLOG OF THE MONTH:
PARENT-TO-PARENT:
KIDS CORNER:
PROGRAM
UPDATES:
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China
Children, Long Awaiting Parents, Find Forever Homes through
Waiting Children Program |
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Colombia
Safe Travels into a Nation Just Out of Turbulent Times |
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Ethiopia
Eight Families See Referrals for their Ethiopian Child |
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Kazakhstan
Families Meeting to Bond with Their Sons |
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Russia
Spring Showers Bring a Flood of Travel for Happy Russia
Families |
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Vietnam
New Parents Join Large and Excited Travel Groups to Complete
Their Vietnamese Adoptions |
Request a
copy of our Adoption
Guide to see which program
is right for
your family.
Help the lives of
orphans
by sponsoring a child today!
Get your church
involved
with orphan ministry.
Our Accreditations
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Swift swallows and spring
days were shuttling by
of ninety radiant ones three score had fled.
Young grass spread all its green to heaven's rim;
some blossoms marked pear branches with white dots.
Now came the Feast of Light in the third month
with graveyard rites and junkets on the green.
As merry pilgrims flocked from near and far,
the sisters and their brother went for a stroll.
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- describing
scenes during the Tomb Sweeping Day festival Vietnamese epic
poem
The Tale of Kieu |
Qingming Kite
 Tomb
Sweeping Day is celebrated by both the Chinese (Qingming
Festival) and the Vietnamese (Tết Thanh), and is known by many
English names. This year, the holiday that honors each family?s
ancestors falls on April 4-6. Tombs are swept and properly
arranged, spring is enjoyed, and kites are flown by day - and
also by night with the aid of tiny affixed lanterns to dot the
springtime sky.
Festival kites can be seen in all
sorts of shapes, sizes, and colors. Designs may include frogs,
dragonflies, butterflies, crabs, bats, and storks. With the
pattern below, you can enjoy your spring with a 20-minute
handmade kite to symbolize your family?s adoption!
Materials:
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Sheet of brightly colored paper
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Ruler
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Pencil
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Wire cutters
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Kebab (bamboo) skewer
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Hole punch
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10+ feet of string
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Small piece of cardboard or
popsicle stick
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Bright-colored Plastic
surveyor?s tape or streamers
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3/4- inch masking or clear tape
for reinforcement
Decoration:
Stickers or darkly colored markers
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Fold your 8 1/2 x 11? sheet
of paper in half widthwise. Use a ruler and pencil to
measure and draw a diagonal line, as shown (1? from the
upper left corner to 2 ?? from the lower left corner).
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Place the ruler against the
line and crease the paper along it.
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Fold back the top layer of
paper and tape along the fold line. Trim any excess
tape.
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Using wire cutter, trim the
bamboo skewer to 8 inches in length. Position the skewer
as a brace across the top back of the kite and firmly
tape it down.
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Cut a 6-foot kite tail from
the surveyor's tape or use the same length of streamers.
Tape it to the rear edge of the kite. Next, flip the
kite over and fold the flap (to which you'll tie the
string) back and forth until it stands straight up.
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Fold a small piece of tape
over the edge of the flap about 3 inches from the top.
Punch a hole through the tape 1/4 inch in from the
folded edge. (Reinforcing your hole punch will help in
high wind.) Tie one end of the string through the hole.
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Make your kite personal by
decorating the paper with stickers and colored markers.
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To make a string winder, tie
the other end of the string around the middle of the
cardboard or popsicle stick, securing it with a strip of
tape. Wind on the rest of the string, and you're ready
to fly!
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Kite design and photos submitted
to
FamilyFun.com, by contributor Jonathan Socher of Hawaii.
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2008 Children's Hope International.
All rights reserved.