Kite Science and 8 Festivals in the US

In attempt to find a new theme for each birthday, we held a birthday party at a kite festival (West Chester, OH Voice of America park).  The party included a kite shaped cake and a kite for each kid to fly.  On this day, we felt grateful for wind.  There's a science lesson in kite flying, the need for wind pressure or force to keep the kit in the air.  It's called lift and it counteracts the force of gravity.  Kids understand gravity or the force that pulls things towards the earth well.  Have them jump up and down.  Kites garner more physics terms:  thrust, drag, angle of attack, and tension.

You may also tie history into a kite flying demonstration.  Kites have served as so much more than just toys.  During the Han Dynasty, a Chinese general flew a kite above a town to calculate the distance his army would have to tunnel to reach under the city walls.  Scientists and inventors experimented with kites.  Benjamin Franklin experimented with kites and electrical energy.  Alexander Wilson compared air temperature.  The Wright Brothers flew kites to test their wing-warping control system.

Kites play a key role in certain sports; power kites pull fliers on surf and land boards.

If you have small children, check out a book about kites such as Curious George Flies a Kite, Let's Fly a Kite, Kite Day A Bear and Mole Story, and Kite Flying.



Kite creation can bring out the artist in your child.  Years later we attended a kite making class at a naval base and the kids had just as much fun creating as flying.

Kick off your child's interest in kites by attending a kite festival.  Here's 8 other kite festivals in the US:

1.  Frank Mots International Kite Festival, Veterans Park, Milwaukee, WI, launches nearly 600 kites plus demonstrations from professionals
2.  Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (National Mall, Washington DC), visit the exhibit indoors and go outdoors to fly kites
3.  Ziller Park Kite Festival (Austin, TX), over 85 years old festival, one of the oldest in the US
4.  Outer Banks Stunt Kite Competition, Wright Brothers National Museum (fitting location!) Kill Devil Hills, NC
5.  Bug Lite Kite Festival, Bug Light State Park, South Portland, Maine
6.  Soar into Spring Kite Festival, Floxglenn Park, Flagstaff, AZ
7.  Sunfest Kite Festival (Ocean City, MD) festival on the beach, location considered "The Kiteflying Capital of the World" with it's wide beach and regular winds, host site of The AKA (American fliers Association) convention
8.  Marblehead Festival of the Arts Kite Day, Deveroux Beach, Marblehead, MA

Gym Class #7: Lumberjack Competitions & 6 Shows

Take your kids on a verbal history trip before visiting a lumberjack show.  With all the cheering and jokes, they may miss the connection to our European ancestors settling America, logging, and building wood homes.  Logging camps set up in the north.  Log drivers rode and drove the logs down the strong river currents from the forest to the sawmills.  When the spring thaw came, logs rafted downriver.  Wisconsin turned out 3.4 billion board feet of pinewood by the end of the 19th century.

No doubt your kids will have fun cheering on the lumberjacks at a lumber jack show. Most shows have multiple events such as the boom run, speed climb (competitors can reach 60 or 90 feet high in what seems like no time), chainsaw carve, crosscut sawing, and axe throw.  Multiple times I've seen these lumber artists carve a bunny chair right before the audience eyes and a lucky boy or girl goes home with a naturally cute chair.

The log roll always pleases the crowd.  Competitors stand atop a log, try to keep balance, can't cross the center line, and try to stay on the log longer than their opponent while spinning the log in water.

These shows focus on the families.  I find the lumberjacks to really enjoy kids asking for their autographs after the show.

Considering the logging history, it's not surprising that many of the shows locate in northern states.  In fact, the Lumberjack World Championships international competition takes place in Hayward, WI.  Shows can be seasonal, so plan ahead.  Here's six shows:

1.  Jack Pine Lumber Jack Shows - Mackinaw City, MI - June to September
Rated #1 attraction in Mackinaw City (TripAdvisor 2013), features nine-time World Champion logroller Dan McDonough, 1 hour show, $14 adult, $9 children

2.  Paul Bunyan's Northwoods Lumberjack Show - Wisconsin Dells, WI - May and June
adults $18, children $11

3.  Fred Scheers Lumberjack Show - Hayward and Minocqua, WI - May and June
1 hour show $14, children $9;

Hayward also hosts the World Championships and includes a Family Night deal ($40 entrance for 2 adults and up to 4 children) on Thurs. night of July 28-30 2016.

4.  Great Maine Lumberjack Show - Trenton, Maine - June to Aug.
12 events including power hot sawing and underhand chopping; adults $12, child $8

5.  The Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show - Ketchikan, AK - May to Sept.
#1 in shore excursions for Alaska, voted Alaska's 10 Best by Travel Channel

Perhaps you have a hankering for a lumberjack show and it's off season, never fear, you can go to this year round show:

6.  Lumberjack Feud - Pigeon Forge, TN - year round
Show includes dinner, 19 events, ESPN athletes,  and World Champion Timberdogs. Adults $50, children $20

Most shows have relatively reasonable ticket prices.  If you really want to get a great deal, go to a county or state fair offering a free lumberjack show.  I've seen shows at the MN State Fair, Utah State Fair, and the IL State Fair (Timberworks Lumberjack Show featured in above photos, a traveling show, located within Conservation World on the fair grounds)