Colourful creations take to the skies

By Ms Winnie Sun, Chinese Language Teacher

To conclude our 2025 Year 7 Chinese studies, students completed a Chinese kite design project that combined both Chinese and Australian cultural learning. The class explored traditional Chinese kites and their cultural significance in festivals.

We began by watching videos about the origin of kites and researching key colours and patterns to find out more about what they represent. The students also practised writing related Chinese characters. We also had a lively discussion about the differences between the Chinese Kite Festival and the Canberra Kite Festival.

With this cultural knowledge in mind, students designed their own kites, painting them with watercolours and incorporating meaningful symbolic colours, for example, purple to represent royalty. Students also wrote a paragraph in both Chinese and English, introducing themselves and briefly describing the ideas behind their designs. Congratulations to Olivia and Fern for receiving the Best Design Award.

The highlight was, of course, flying the kites. There was a spirited competition to see whose kite could fly the highest. Ultimately, the kite designed by Arati, Maggie, Hayden, and Isaac won.