Like clockwork, when the temperatures rise and the flags begin to flutter, customers walk into Fun & Games looking for kites.

“We always get people coming in on the first nice day of the year,” says Kyle Billings, owner of the shop at 830 Mass. “Usually they’ll just want to do it for nostalgia.”

If you have as much luck with flying kites as Charlie Brown did, it might just be a matter of choosing the right one to take out on a windy day.

There is a huge variety of kites available – from traditional, plastic “diamond kites” that retail for around $10 to custom-built stunt kites that can cost $500 or more.

Billings suggests beginners stick with the diamond kites, which would have been made from sticks and newspapers in olden days and use a single line.

“It’s the easiest one to fly, if you just want to jack around with your kids,” he says. “You throw it up there and it stays up.”

Another fairly easy option, Billings says, is the parachute or parafoil kite, which has no rigid parts and can be stuffed into a fanny pack.

The diamond and parachute kites are among the varieties Arlen Schif recommends for kite newcomers. Schif, a former Lawrence resident, now lives in Lincoln, Neb., and owns an online kite store, www.breezechasers.com.

But he says other designs, such as the bird, octopus and butterfly also are good options. And three-dimensional kites such as box kites also are fairly easy to fly.

He suggests buying nylon kites over plastic kites, which tear easily.

“There are many, many options available, and they’re all good,” he says. “The more fun you have the first time out, the more likely you are to go back.”

For the more advanced kite-flyer, Schif suggests multi-line stunt kites. Some of those are used for “kite fighting” – in which contestants must cut the line of their opponents – and in other competitions.

“You can cause them to stop on a dime and spin without moving anywhere,” Schif says. “They’re also very touchy. You’re going to run it into the ground a lot.”

Schif says most kites can be flown on days with winds ranging from 4 mph to 25 mph. Ideal conditions are 8 mph to 15 mph.

“If you watch and the treetops are moving, but the whole tree isn’t bending, and the flags are fluttering freely but not beating real hard, it’s about right,” he says.

Schif got into kites through teaching his nephews and nieces. But he says it’s a hobby that can appeal to people of any age.

“I find it fascinating,” he says. “I can sit and watch a kite bob up and down for hours and never get tired of it. For some people, it’s the challenge, and for some people it’s the relaxation.”