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🪁 Gist of the Lesson
The poem “The Kites” by Daphne Lister describes the joy and excitement of watching colourful kites flying high in the sky. The poet compares the kites to beautiful birds soaring in the wind. The child in the poem imagines becoming as light as air, climbing onto a kite, and flying above the town. From the sky, the child dreams of looking down at parks, rooftops, and people below. The poem beautifully expresses a child’s imagination, love for nature, freedom, and adventure through the simple pleasure of kite flying.
Key Points
The poem is about colourful kites flying in the sky.
The kites are compared to coloured birds.
The child wishes to become as light as air.
The child dreams of riding a kite high in the sky.
The child imagines seeing parks, rooftops, and people from above.
The poem expresses happiness, freedom, imagination, and adventure.
It encourages children to dream big and enjoy the beauty of nature.
📖 Summary of the Lesson
The poem “The Kites” is written by Daphne Lister. It describes a child’s happiness while watching colourful kites flying high in the windy sky. The poet compares the kites to colourful birds soaring freely in the air. This beautiful comparison helps readers imagine the lively scene.
As the child watches the kites, they wish to become as small and as light as air. They dream of climbing onto a kite and flying high above the ground. While flying, the child imagines drifting on the paper wings of the kite and listening to the songs of the wild wind.
The child also imagines looking down at the parks, houses, and rooftops of the town. From such a great height, everything below looks beautiful and exciting. The child believes that the people on the ground would look up in surprise and wish they could enjoy the same wonderful experience.
The poem highlights the limitless imagination of children and their love for freedom, adventure, and nature. It reminds us that simple things, like watching a kite fly, can fill our minds with dreams and happiness. Through vivid imagery and simple language, the poet creates a joyful picture of flying freely in the open sky.
⭐ Main Theme
The poem celebrates imagination, freedom, joy, adventure, and the beauty of nature. It shows how a child’s dreams can transform an ordinary moment into an exciting adventure.
📚 Difficult Words (English → Hindi)
| Word | Meaning (English) | Hindi Meaning (हिंदी अर्थ) |
| Kite | A light flying object made of paper or cloth | पतंग |
| Wind-whipped | Moved strongly by the wind | तेज़ हवा से हिलता हुआ |
| Coloured | Having different colours | रंग-बिरंगा |
| Sail | To move smoothly through the air | हवा में उड़ना |
| Drift | To move slowly with the wind | हवा के साथ बहना |
| Wings | Parts used for flying | पंख |
| Wild | Strong and natural | प्रचंड / तेज़ |
| Stare | To look at something for a long time | टकटकी लगाकर देखना |
| Rooftops | The tops of houses | घरों की छतें |
| Park | A public garden or playground | पार्क / उद्यान |
| Town | A place larger than a village | नगर |
| Air | The invisible gas around us | हवा |
| Sky | The space above the earth | आकाश |
| Light | Not heavy | हल्का |
| Climb | To go upward | चढ़ना |
| Fly | To move through the air | उड़ना |
| Below | At a lower place | नीचे |
| High | Far above the ground | ऊँचा |
| Fun | Enjoyment | आनंद / मज़ा |
| Paper Wings | Wings made of paper (of the kite) | कागज़ के पंख |
| Joy | Great happiness | खुशी |
| Adventure | An exciting experience | रोमांच |
| Freedom | The state of being free | स्वतंत्रता |
| Imagine | To form a picture in the mind | कल्पना करना |
| Coloured Birds | Birds with beautiful colours | रंग-बिरंगे पक्षी |
🪁 Let Us Do These Activities Before We Read
I. Answer the following questions and share them with your teacher and classmates.
1. Have you ever flown a kite or seen someone fly it? Where? When?
Answer: Yes, I have seen people flying kites from their rooftops during Makar Sankranti in my neighbourhood. It was a colourful and joyful sight.
2. Describe the kite—colour(s), shape, design of tail, any other detail.
Answer: The kite was diamond-shaped with bright red, yellow, and blue colours. It had a long tail decorated with colourful ribbons. It looked beautiful as it flew high in the sky.
3. What did you think when you saw the kite up in the sky?
Answer: I felt happy and excited. I wished I could fly like the kite and enjoy the beautiful view from high above the ground.
II. Search the internet for videos on Kite Festivals and watch them with your teacher and classmates.
1. Share the things with your teacher that you saw and what the people were doing.
Answer: I saw people flying colourful kites, taking part in kite-flying competitions, cheering for each other, and enjoying the festival with their families and friends.
2. Would you like to participate in this kind of festival? Why?
Answer: Yes, I would like to participate because it looks exciting and fun. It is a wonderful way to celebrate with family and friends and enjoy flying colourful kites.
3. What kind of kite would you like to fly?
Answer: I would like to fly a large diamond-shaped kite with bright colours and a long colourful tail because it looks attractive in the sky.
III. Look at the picture and complete the sentences. Share your responses with your teacher
1. I can see ___________,___________ and ___________ in the picture.
Answer: I can see kite, birds and sky in the picture.
2. The weather in the picture is ___________.
Answer: The weather in the picture is windy.
3. The kite is ___________ high in the sky.
Answer: The kite is flying high in the sky.
4. The child is ___________ from below.
Answer: The child is looking from below.
5. The tail of the kite___________.
Answer: The tail of the kite has ribbons.
IV. Now, think and answer.
List two more things that you want to add to the picture.
Answer: Clouds and more children playing.
If I were the child, I would run fast on the grass and enjoy flying the kite high.
If I were the kite, I would touch the high clouds and dance with the wind.
📝 Let Us Discuss
I. Read the poem silently. As you read, mark the given statements as True or False.
| Statements | Answer |
|---|---|
| 1. The child is looking at the kites. | True  |
| 2. The kites look like birds of different colours. | True |
| 3. It was a rainy day. | False  |
| 4. The child wants to be like a kite. | True |
| 5. The child wishes to climb on a kite. | True |
| 6. The kite is made of cloth and plastic. | False |
| 7. The child wants to ride the kite. | True |
| 8. The child knows they would have fun. | True |
| 9. The child wants to look at the kite from a rooftop. | False |
| 10. The child would like to look at people down below. | True |
| 11. The child knows that the people would stare. | True |
II. Complete the following sentences.
1. The poet says that the kites are like coloured birds.
Answer: The kites have been compared to birds because they fly high in the sky like colourful birds.
2. The child wishes to be like air.
Answer: The child wishes to be as light as air. The child wishes this to be able to climb on a kite and fly.
Do you think that the use of simile in this poem helps us imagine better when we read the poem?
Answer: Yes. The similes make the poem more vivid and beautiful. They help us imagine the kites flying like colourful birds and the child becoming as light as air.
III. Find a set of words from the poem that begin with the same consonant sound.
Stanza 1
Words: wind-whipped sky
Consonant sound: W
Stanza 3
Words: wild wind
Consonant sound: W
Create four other sets of words using alliteration.
Answer:
- Big Blue Balloon
- Funny Flying Fish
- Happy Hungry Horse
- Tiny Talking Turtle
IV. In the last stanza, the two words that the poet repeats are __________, __________ to tell us that the kite is flying __________ high.
Answer: The two repeated words are High, High to tell us that the kite is flying very high.
V. Study each stanza and underline the rhyming words from the end of each line. Also, circle the end words in the stanzas that do not rhyme.
Stanza 1
- fly — sky
- birds — (does not rhyme)
Stanza 2
- air — there
- small — (does not rhyme)
Stanza 3
- wings — sings
- upon — (does not rhyme)
Stanza 4
- down — town
- park — (does not rhyme)
Stanza 5
- stare — air
- below — (does not rhyme)
🤔 Let Us Think and Reflect
I. Read the given lines from the poem and answer the following questions.
What fun it would be
To look right down,
Over the park
And the rooftops of town.
1. Circle the word that does not share the same feeling as ‘fun’.
joy, excitement, care, happiness
Answer: care ✅
2. Which line tells us that the poet was somewhere above the ground?
Answer: “To look right down,”
This line shows that the child imagines being high above the ground.
3. Choose the scene the child saw.
Answer: ✅ The park and the rooftops of the town.
II. Answer the following questions.
1. How does the poet describe the kites in the first two lines?
Answer: The poet describes the kites as coloured birds flying in the wind-whipped sky.
2. Why does the child wish to get onto the kite?
Answer: The child wishes to get onto the kite so that they can fly high in the sky, drift on its paper wings, and enjoy the beautiful view from above.
3. What are the songs that the child hears when flying atop the kite?
Answer: The child imagines hearing the songs that the wild wind sings while flying on the kite.
4. Why did the people look up at the child and stare? If you looked up and saw that, what feelings would you have?
Answer: The people looked up and stared because they saw the child flying high in the air on a kite, which was an exciting and unusual sight. If I saw that, I would feel amazed, happy, and excited.
5. If you were the kite carrying the child high up in the air, what would you tell them?
Answer: I would say, “Hold on tightly and enjoy the beautiful view. Feel the cool breeze, be brave, and enjoy your wonderful journey through the sky.”
