Suppose we take a kite ABCD such that AB=BC and CD=DA. Suppose that the diagonals AC and BD intersect at X.
By SSS congruence, △ABD≅△CBD. Thus, ∠ABD≅∠CBD. By SAS congruence, △ABX≅△CBX. This means that ∠AXB≅∠CXB, which means that AC and BD are perpendicular.
Since AC⊥BD, ABX, BCX, CXD, and DAX are all right triangles.
Computing their areas,
[ABX]=21XA⋅XB
[BCX]=21XB⋅XC
[CDX]=21XC⋅XD
[DAX]=21XD⋅XA
Computing [ABCD],
[ABCD]=[ABX]+[BCX]+[CDX]+[DAX]
[ABCD]=21(XA⋅XB+XB⋅XC+XC⋅XD+XD⋅XA)
[ABCD]=21(XA+XC)(XB+XD)
[ABCD]=21AC⋅BD
Thus, the area of a kite is equal to one half of the product of the diagonals.
In fact, this formula applies to any quadrilateral with perpendicular diagonals.