Easy to Make Origami

Children are naturally very creative. You give them anything - right from a shoe to a piece of cloth to an old discarded piece of furniture, and they will find their own ways to mold these things into their play items. In order to make better use of their natural talent, parents should introduce them to various art and crafts. If you are a parent who is looking for some ideas on how to productively utilize your kid's time, then here are some easy to make origami for you. Origami is actually a Japanese art which involves creating different animals, flowers, things etc, out of a paper by folding it in numerous ways. Origami is easy to do and fun at the same time. Here are some easy to make origami shapes, which you can teach your child.

Easy to Make Origami Animals

There are various animals and birds that can be made by using this art such as cats, dogs, tortoise, swan, bear, rabbit, snake, fish, frog and crab. Out of these, dog is the easiest and the most loved by children. Here is a step by step guide on making a dog with origami paper.

Origami Dog

• Begin by taking a square piece of a colored paper, ideally brown or black, so that the dog looks close to real as far as possible.
• Now keep the colored side of the paper on the table, and fold it diagonally in such a way that a triangle is created.
• Make another smaller triangle out of this triangle by placing one corner of the triangle over the other. Then unfold this small triangle. If you have done this step correctly then you will see a crease in the middle.
• Now take the corners of the triangle and fold them slightly towards this crease, you have created so that ears of the dog are made.
• Next, fold the top as well as the bottom of the triangle so that a kind of dog face is created.
• Now with a sketch pen, make eyes, nose and mouth of the dog. See, it is so easy to make a dog out of a paper!

Easy to Make Origami Flowers

There are various flowers, such as rose, tulip, lily, lotus, blossom and sunflower that can be created with this Japanese art. Here is a step wise guide to make an origami rose. Though it is a bit difficult than the other flowers, but in the end you will see that the effort is worth it.

Origami Rose

• Take a square colored red paper which is six inches in length and breadth.
• Keep the colored side of the paper on the table and fold the paper diagonally into a triangle. Now open the triangle and you will see a diagonal crease on the paper.
• Turn the paper so that you can see the colored side. Place the paper in such a way that the crease is vertical.
• Now take the right corner of the paper and place it exactly over the crease. Similarly take the left corner and place it over the crease two. Both the sides should be folded in such a way that a kite shape is created out of the triangular paper.
• Take the corners and fold them back to form two small triangles, both on the left and the right side.
• Now bring up the white side of the paper and make both the corners of the paper meet at top.
• Draw a line about one centimeter above the base of the paper. Fold the upper side of the paper down from this line in such a way that you get a pointed triangle, facing downwards.
• Now fold the corners of this pointed triangle to make two small triangles at the base. These small triangles will have a tip facing upwards. Pull the sides to make a straight line with the crease.
• Now make a fold at the top which is about one centimeter and voila! Your beautiful rose is ready.

Here's hoping that these easy to make origami instructions have been helpful to you and your child. One last tip - whatever origami shapes that your child creates, put them on display in the house and you will see a proud smile on your child's lips.