Class 6 English · Original EZT practice
The Kites (Class 6 English Chapter 14): a child's flight of imagination
See the kites fly, like coloured birds in the wind-whipped sky. Watching them soar, a child wishes to be small and light as air - to climb on a kite, drift on its paper wings, and look down over the park and rooftops. Daphne Lister's poem from Poorvi Unit 5, Culture and Tradition, is a little flight of imagination. Below: a stanza-wise summary, word meanings and practice questions. (Note: this is original practice, not a textbook exercise key.)
6 original worked examples, 6 fresh self-check questions and 4 mixed questions, with explained answers. These are not copied textbook exercises, an official chapter index or a full answer key. No affiliation with NCERT is claimed.
Official sources for topic and edition context, checked 23 October 2026:
1. Poem summary and central idea
Watching kites fly like coloured birds, the speaker wishes she could ride a kite high in the sky, hear the wild wind sing, and look down at the town below - a poem about wishing and imagination.
2. Stanza-wise explanation
Stanza 1 - the kites fly like coloured birds; stanza 2 - the wish to be small and light enough to ride a kite; stanza 3 - drifting on paper wings, hearing the songs the wild wind sings; stanzas 4 and 5 - looking down over the park and rooftops while people below stare and wish they were her.
3. Word meanings
The poem builds sky-imagination words - wind-whipped, drift, sail, stare.
4. Reading a poem - practice
The poem rhymes in pairs (fly/sky, air/there, wings/sings, down/town, stare/air); reading aloud with the rhymes stressed brings out its song-like feel.
Choose, solve, check, then try a fresh question.
Before calculating, read the method prompt and name the condition that makes it useful. Write your own attempt. Open the steps only when you need them, and use the check to catch a wrong sign, unit or interpretation. Finish with the fresh question before reading its answer.
State the central idea
Choose the method: Wishing is the poem's engine.
EZT practice question
What is the central idea of 'The Kites'?
Show the worked solution
- A child watches kites flying like coloured birds.
- She dreams of flying on one herself.
- From high above she would see the whole town - free as air.
Answer: The joy of imagination - a child watches kites and dreams of flying on one, seeing the world from high above, free as air.
Check: Nothing in the poem really happens except watching and wishing - the dream is the poem.
Watch for this: Do not read it as a poem about making kites - it is about imagining a ride on one.
Now try it yourself
Who wrote 'The Kites'?
Check your answer
Daphne Lister.
The textbook names her as the poet.
Read the opening picture
Choose the method: A simile sets the scene.
EZT practice question
What do the kites look like to the child?
Show the worked solution
- The poem opens: 'See the kites fly'.
- They look 'like coloured birds'.
- They fly 'in the wind-whipped sky'.
Answer: Coloured birds in the wind-whipped sky.
Check: The simile does double duty - kites as birds makes the later wish to ride one feel natural.
Watch for this: Do not call them real birds - 'like' marks a comparison, not a claim.
Now try it yourself
Which line shows the kites moving in strong wind?
Check your answer
'In the wind-whipped sky.'
Wind-whipped means blown about strongly by the wind.
Explain the child's wish
Choose the method: Small and light enough to fly.
EZT practice question
What does the child wish to be, and why?
Show the worked solution
- She wishes to be small and light as air.
- Then she could climb on a kite.
- And sail up into the sky.
Answer: Small and light as air - so she could climb on a kite and sail up into the sky.
Check: The wish has a purpose - lightness is what would let her ride the kite.
Watch for this: Do not say she wishes to be a kite - she wishes to ride one.
Now try it yourself
What does 'light as air' tell us the child wants to feel?
Check your answer
Weightless and free, so she could fly.
Freedom is the heart of the wish.
List the imagined fun
Choose the method: Three joys on paper wings.
EZT practice question
What fun things does the child imagine doing on the kite?
Show the worked solution
- Drifting upon its paper wings.
- Hearing the songs that the wild wind sings.
- Looking right down over the park and the rooftops of the town.
Answer: Drifting upon its paper wings, hearing the songs that the wild wind sings, and looking right down over the park and the rooftops of the town.
Check: Paper wings is the kite itself, re-imagined as wings the child could drift on.
Watch for this: Do not read the wind as really singing - its blowing and whistling is imagined as song.
Now try it yourself
What would the people below do, in the child's imagination?
Check your answer
Stand and stare, and wish they were her, high in the air.
The dream ends with others envying her flight.
Match poem words to meanings
Choose the method: Fix each word to one plain meaning.
EZT practice question
Match: wind-whipped, drift, stare - with their meanings.
Show the worked solution
- wind-whipped - blown about strongly by the wind.
- drift - float gently along.
- stare - look at something for a long time.
Answer: wind-whipped - blown about strongly by the wind; drift - float gently along; stare - look at something for a long time.
Check: The kites drift in the wind-whipped sky while people below stare up - all three words in one picture.
Watch for this: Do not confuse drift with drive - drifting is floating where the wind takes you.
Now try it yourself
Use 'sail' in a sentence about a kite.
Check your answer
The blue kite sailed high above the rooftops.
To sail is to glide smoothly, as the kite does.
Pick the rhyming pairs
Choose the method: Read the line endings aloud.
EZT practice question
Pick out the rhyming pairs in the poem.
Show the worked solution
- fly - sky.
- air - there; wings - sings.
- down - town; stare - air.
Answer: fly - sky; air - there; wings - sings; down - town; stare - air.
Check: Five pairs, all on line endings - the rhymes give the poem its song-like feel.
Watch for this: Do not pair wings with sings by meaning - they rhyme by sound, which is what counts.
Now try it yourself
Complete: 'I would climb on a ___ / And sail up ___.'
Check your answer
kite; there.
Straight from the poem's wish stanza.
Try a mixed set
Choose a method or explanation before opening each answer.
1. Central idea of the poem?
Show answer and reason
The joy of imagination - a child dreams of riding a kite and seeing the world from above.
Watching and wishing carry the poem.
2. What do the kites look like?
Show answer and reason
Coloured birds in the wind-whipped sky.
The opening simile.
3. Poet of 'The Kites'?
Show answer and reason
Daphne Lister.
Named in the textbook.
4. Rhyming pairs?
Show answer and reason
fly - sky; air - there; wings - sings; down - town; stare - air.
Pairs on every line ending.
Try it yourself
Work these on paper before checking any notes. Answers are deliberately not shown here.
- What are the kite's 'paper wings'?
- Would you like to ride a kite like the child? Why or why not?
- Describe in two lines what you would see from high above your town.
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Questions about this practice page
- What is 'The Kites' about?
- A child watches kites fly and imagines riding one high in the sky, looking down over the park and rooftops of the town.
- Who is the poet of 'The Kites'?
- Daphne Lister.
- What does the child wish for in the poem?
- To be small and light as air, so she could climb on a kite and sail up into the sky.
- What do the kites look like?
- Coloured birds in the wind-whipped sky.
- Are these the NCERT exercise questions for Class 6 English Chapter 14?
- No. EZT pages are original practice following the chapter's section order - use them to prepare for the textbook exercises, not as a substitute for your book.