Origami is fun and rewarding for children. These 10 great origami projects for kids are a perfect rainy day or anytime activity.
Depending on how old your kids are, they may need your help to complete some of these origami projects. Here are some tips to make each project successful:
- Make the origami model yourself beforehand, especially if you are planning a kids' party or have a lot of kids to teach.
- Some origami tutorials are photo tutorials, and some are diagrams. Print out the diagrams to have the instructions on-hand while you complete the project.
- Be patient. Make sure to wait until your child has finished the step he or she is on before moving on to the next.
- It's best to sit next to children while teaching origami because if you are opposite, the origami is upside-down to them. (Unless you are very talented and can fold origami upside-down.)
- Remind your kids that the neater their folds are at the start, the better the project will turn out.
- Have fun!
- These little modular origami cubes are made using six sheets of square paper, made into inter-locking units. The simplest thing to make from these "sonobe" units is this little origami cube. Younger children may need some help the first time they make one of these. You can also turn these origami cubes into hanging decorations with a bit of ribbon or string.
Origami Finger Puppets
Did you know you can make a set of finger puppets using origami?
You can make origami finger puppet cats, dogs, bears, pandas, and foxes by folding the ears differently and drawing on a different face. Use different colors and patterns for more variety, and for even more decorative puppets, you can embellish them with stickers, glitter, sequins, and other crafty decorations.
Origami Tic-Tac-Toe Game
Making these origami Xs and Os is a great activity for two kids. Instead of drawing Xs and Os on multiple sheets of paper, they can create a set of origami tic-tac-toe that can last a long time. Using these 3-D Xs and Os also makes it easier to explain the tactics of the game, without needing to rub out or re-draw the game.
Loop-De-Loop Origami Plane
Instead of making paper airplanes that fly a long way (knocking things over and scaring the pets) make some origami loopy planes. These easy origami airplanes fall in little loops. Kids can have competitions to see how far it loops or how many loops the plane does before hitting the ground.
Traditional Floating Origami Boat
These traditional origami boats will float nicely in water—you can float them in a pond, river, or even the sink and bathtub. Have each child make one from a different colored sheet of paper to have a boat-floating race. Or a great learning activity is to see how much weight the boats can carry across your sink or bath. After building this boat try making an origami crane.