Origami is a simple but enjoyable activity that’s easy to revisit. When planning an activity with origami, make sure to take the children’s capacities into account; simple figures with fewer folds are best for younger children or children with no previous experience, while older or more practiced children will probably enjoy making more complicated figures. Some suggestions for different figures to try with different skill levels can be found below; OrigamiUSA has some useful guidelines for origami difficulty you can refer to.
Once you’ve chosen figures to try in class, the first thing to do is practice making them yourself. This is important, because origami can be tricky, and you’ll need to help lead the children through the process (or risk losing their interest!). As well, once you’ve made your own versions of the figures, you can present them to the class as examples to work towards.
Many origami figures can be made with plain sheets of common printer paper (letter or A4 size). Many figures start from a square base, which is easy to build: simply fold one corner of the paper over diagonally and cut off the rectangular bit that sticks out. If it’s within your budget, you can also invest in a few packages of square origami paper.
Origami can easily be incorporated into lessons about kindness to animals (making origami animals), love (origami hearts), the equality of men and women (paper cranes can be used to illustrate “two wings of a bird”), and many others.
simple figures
intermediate figures
advanced figures
more figures (various levels)
- Origami Instructions: Origami for Kids
- Traposo US: Easy origami videos for kids
- Rob’s Origami Videos
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