Few toys are more fun than a kite. Sure, you can’t use them every day (unless you live at particularly windy beach or on a mountaintop), but when you do take them out a kite is sheer pleasure for the whole family. That said, not every kite is great for kids: kites are sensitive, fly away, get stuck in trees, and so on.

My favorite kite for kids is what we call the Octopus kite. It’s a popular model on Amazon (and I’m sure many others), it’s affordable, and it’s super fun.

The Octopus kite is sold under a few names, but usually it’s by the brand “Hengda Kite.” This isn’t a company I know anything about and normally wouldn’t be too excited to buy from, but given that this isn’t something you eat, eat with, or wear, it seems OK.

The Octopus kite is so good for kids because it’s affordable (about $16), super stable in the air, and it’s pretty tough. You also don’t need a lot of wind to get it in the air, so a steady breeze plus a 5-year-old (or older) running against it will be enough to get the kite in the air.

Being an Octopus the kite has a number of “legs” that trail behind it. These add extra weight so the kite won’t fly as light a breeze as some others but they also add stability, which is important for kids who won’t yet have the speed or dexterity to deal with a fast-moving kite (including the popular delta kites).