Well I have attempted a few sessions with my little girl riding on my back or standing on the board but it is time for her to stand up on her own.

Bought her a 5 meter kite and a little kiddie harness but my concern is that she can not depower.

With the length of the hook on the harness plus the chicken loop and the safety above, she is left with about an inch play for the depower by pushing the bar(short arms).

I need to make it all a lot closer to her body so she can actually depower by pushing on the bar.

Any sugestions would be welcome.

She is 9 years old, 23 kg and very keen.

Talk to darren over ther he was really help full too us .

i had the same problem and just shortened the chicken loop until it was at a good distance

Globe kites.GK have a system that's seems perfect.Above the bar loopy thingy that brings the bar closer,just for people with short arms.

Hey Sebol,

its going to be one of the most frustrating but most rewarding things to teach your kids. You'll need the patience of a saint and you'll need to develope your skills of calming yourself as you watch them make mistakes and your just too far away to help.

But, the highs you get when they learn and achieve the next step, sharing the stoke at the end of the day, it really is something. A big moment for me was when my son learnt to self launch safely in 20 knots and when he went up wind coming back to the beach where he started from.

It will be a skill that they will keep forever and give them a healthy outlook on life instead of zombie killing on the playstation!

I first got the missus into kiting, then my son and now just recently, my daughter has asked to learn. Each of them learns differently and I think the biggest thing that I learnt from the process was to be very patient and even when they stuff up, give them constant praise for the stuff they did right. Kids can give up easily especially when it isn't going well or they have had a little scare.

You may be giving up some valuable kiting time yourself, but when the conditions are perfect it usually means that its good teaching time too and you know they'll learn quicker when the conditions are right.

By the way, the first thing I taught my daughter is how to punch out so now if she gets scared, it is instinct for her hand to pull the safety. It will give you more confidence to to let them go.

Since Kids are not as strong, you'll need a safety that is really easy to trigger and in my opinion, the North is the best one out there. Its big and red and easy to push away, and you can do it with your left or right hand. I saw a few safety's from other brands and I wouldn't trust them let alone let kids use them. Kids think like kids and when the kite is out of control and looping you want the easiest, lightest pressure safety out there!!

Anyway, good luck and have fun!

cheers for now,

Robbie

i found the north bar so easy to move it all down so my kids could then reach the de-power strap flying a buzz 7.5 and 5.5

Wicked,

looks like I am not the only one facing this issue and I really appreciate the feedback.

Some great ideas out here and I am definately on a mission to get her a choice little set up.

I have an old skim board in the garage that was recycled to the "too old for this s$%t pile" so I am quite happy to trim it down to the required size and add some sort of footstraps but there is basically no rocker.

Do you think it could work (seen top hat ride a wooden plank better than I ride my surfboard).

Thanks all and any pics of your set up would be welcome.

... a little bit more advise, explain everything like they are a kid . I know that sounds dumb but one day I was yelling advise from some distance away, "walk up wind"! He didn't walk upwind and the kite didn't relaunch, anyway, after I asked what was wrong he replied, 'but I don't know what up wind means'.

Never assume any thing, and explain everything. I made my son practice and practice and then more practice the safety moves, almost to the point he wanted to give up because 'it wasn't fun' but I wasn't gunna budge until I felt he was safe and could do it all, perfectly.

cheers,

Robbie

... part of the exercises I gave him was to read the manual about the kite then ask me questions about it, then I would ask him questions, again, until he was correct then we did the fun stuff. And at random times, usually while I was driving him to school in the morning, I'd say 'punch out' and test his reactions, you know, muscle memory type of stuff. Broken record here, but safety is paramount!

cheers again,

Robbie.

p.s. I found choice in colours of the safety equipment makes them think they have the power and will actually like the stuff, and if the colours aren't quite right, sticker it up bling bling style. The sons not falling for that any more but the my daughter is ... so far.

p.p.s. I told my son that the life vest is LAW until he's 18 (I know its not but I told him that) and I know he'll figure it out soon that it isn't law, so he's now progressed to an impact vest!!