Origami in Action

We introduced origami to our eldest when he was about 5. Our goal at first is to divert him from playing gadgets or watching too much TV. 

Heart Origami for Mother's Day

We started using a book which I bought from a book sale. Then when our son turned 7, we finally allowed him to watch video tutorials in YouTube following a strict weekly schedule. He became very fond of it that he will spend his free time just folding papers. He also found his favorite origamist, Jeremy Shafer.

Jeremy Shafer is a professional entertainer and origamist based in Berkeley, California. He has been folding origami since he was ten. He creates his own origami designs which tend to be whimsical and ridiculous, such as his "Man Swatter" and "BARF Bag". (Source: Wikipedia). 

I asked him why he likes Jeremy, his answer was, "He teaches me how to make origami in action". He even asked his Dad to take a video of him doing origami and made his own Space Ball Monster Origami tutorial. Here's the video.

Olympic Origami

Origami can also stimulate development in many ways:

Independence from Technology

Although computers and other types of digital technology have obvious benefits, they also make it easy for us to become passive consumers, rather than actively engaged. Origami can help restore our ability to engage in and make discoveries about the physical world using our hands and imagination. An added benefit is that paper is inexpensive and recyclable.

Brain Development

Doing origami stimulates both the left (logical) and right (creative) hemispheres of our brains, whether we reproduce other’s designs or create our own. Research has shown that the tactile, motor and visual zones in our brains are engaged and active when we do origami.

Life Skills

Origami teaches patience, analytical skills, and delayed gratification, all of which are valuable qualities that can help us to be successful in life.

from Joel Stern's book: "Origami Games, hands-on fun for kids!"

Doing origami brought character improvement to our son. In the past, he can easily get frustrated if he cannot follow a specific instruction and will easily give up in the middle of it. There are times that he will finish an item just for the sake of finishing it, but you can see that the folds are not aligned. But as he go along, he learned to pay attention to details and he became more patient. Realizing that, we will continue to support him with this, as long as he wants.

To share, here are some of his outputs...

Puppet Origami

Santa Claus Origami

Christmas Tree Origami