Kids Paper Crafts: Origami

Origami projects for kids are great for helping children to learn hand and eye coordination, and are great for parents who dislike the mess associated with most crafts. Simply put, origami is the Japanese art of making items of folded paper, and to a person skilled in the craft it is an art, and worthy of respect as such. Children have a tendency to gravitate toward origami project because they are easy to complete, and the finished items look as though they require much more skill to finish than they actually did. After learning a particular project, kids have the ability to create a neat craft item at any time or place, simply by folding a piece of paper.

Most of the following websites offering free origami patterns are easy to navigate, and the projects are not difficult at all to finish, especially for children. A child that is new to origami may have to repeat the pattern 2 or 3 times to get the folds correct, but any initial frustration will be replaced by joy when they get it right. Here are some wonderful websites offering free origami patterns:

Origami Bat - This shows how to make a neat but very scary origami bat, perfect for Halloween, presented in a video format. This free origami pattern is available at http://video.about.com/familycrafts/How-to-Fold-an-Origami-Bat.htm

Various Origami Patterns - This website offers origami patterns of a fortune teller, a jumping frog, a butterfly, a doll, a samurai hat and a whale. These origami patterns are offered at http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/origami

Various Origami Patterns - This website has many different origami patterns like a dog, a tulip, a whale, a horse, a sunflower, a bear, a yacht, a grasshopper, a cat, a goldfish, a fox, a penguin, a rabbit, a panda, an owl, a monkey, a frog, an elephant, and a turtle. These origami patterns are available at http://www.origami-club.com/en/

Variuos Origami Patterns - This website has patterns of a duck, star, dog, turtle, swan, crane, elephants, and 2 different pigeons. These are available at http://www.origamishrine.com/diagrams.html

Various Origami Patterns - This website offers free origami patterns of animals, boxes and vases, Christmas patterns, flowers with 3 or 4 petals, and many other models. These are available at http://www.joostlangeveldorigami.nl/diagrams.html

Various Origami Patterns - This website offers a Minotaur's face, a Canadian Mountie, a bird in flight, a she-wolf, a dachshund, a canoe, a jet plane, a two masted sailboat, a flower, an Easter egg, a sea cow, a 3D bird, and a boar's head. These are available at http://www.geocities.com/mikesbr2003/index.htm