Posts Tagged ‘origami for kids’
No doubt most of us at one time or another in our life have created an origami project. I can remember, as a child, folding the corners of a sheet of paper to the center of the paper itself, sticking a pin through the center where the ends of the points overlapped, and attaching it to a stick. Taking it outside in the wind and watching it turn and whirl was great fun. The result, a pinwheel, was just one example of origami for kids to make.
The sailboats, airplanes, hats, and other items we made, though slightly more complicated, were all simple projects using origami. Once a child has mastered these skills, he can easily progress to more advanced paper folding designs.
It’s often said that idle hands do the devil’s work, and there’s no better way to increase the skill and dexterity in your fingers than by folding paper into intricate designs. The ancient art of origami began in China around 100 AD. While paper cranes and flowers are just a couple of the most popular origami staples, the possibilities are virtually endless. Much about the end result is determined by the size and thickness of the paper.
Origami for kids can teach patience – a real virtue that will serve them well when pursuing other hobbies or just dealing with people on a day-to-day basis. It’s also beneficial for children to learn how to handle an incorrect fold – will they crumple the paper into a ball out of frustration, or patiently smooth out the crease and try again? Fingernails should be trimmed short so as not to break, but not so short that one cannot make an effective crease.