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| Origami for Kids and Kirigami for Kids |
Origami is fun for kids to do. Using traditional Origami techniques you can create shapes games and decorations. Origami is a great activity to do with your kids and girls are especially engaged in this wonderful craft.
Children in the orient have been entertaining themselves by making origami for centuries, it is a great activity for birthday parties or play-dates.
Origami is the Japanese word for paper folding. ORI means to fold and KAMI means paper. Together, they form the word, "origami." It is an art form that has been handed down from parent to child through many generations. Origami involves the creation of paper forms usually entirely by folding. Animals, birds, fish, geometric shapes, puppets, toys and masks are among the models that even very young children can learn to make.
Kirigami is similar but involves cutting and folding paper, you will remember making paper doilies or paper snowflakes at Christmas - you were doing Kirigami!
With some of the wonderful sets on the market today origami and kirigami for kids is easy and fun. A great way to spend time with your children doing an activity that produces a wonderful piece of work to treasure. In Japan they like to use everything, waste has always been frowned upon and that is really how Origami started, using up little bits of paper left over from other activities. This is a wonderful way to introduce the topic of waste and making sure we use all the materials we have at our disposal without waste - reuse, recycle, reduce!
When doing Origami it is important to make clean and sharp folds and the paper is also important, you can buy special papers at specialist shops, but for beginners and especially for kids it is often best to buy Origami set and see how it goes, this way you will have the right materials that are going to be easy to work with and clear instructions to follow to produce your Origami work. It is important to start with a square piece of paper so if you are using your own papers start by folding a square and cutting off the excess rectangle from a piece of A4 paper, the advantage of an origami set for kids is that everything is ready to go and the papers are fun and engaging for the kids.
Origami and Kirigami are best introduced from around 6 years, by this time children have more patience and will be happy to participate in the activity that requires accuracy and attention to detail. You can have a fun party theme around Origami, especially for a girls party - but do not dismiss the boys - Djeco make a super kit for boys to make 20 paper aeroplanes with cheeky little pilots peeking out of the cockpits! A new kit again available from Djeco is a Kirigami decorative ball set that is enchanting for girls and looks fantastic hanging in their bedroom. The joy of this as a party activity is that the children make their own party gifts to take home - maybe have a few ready made up to use as demo's - they make great party room decorations too!
If your kids love Origami it is a great topic to research online on the internet - we are always trying to introduce the internet and online resources in a positive way. Balancing time on the computer or any screen time is a challenge for today's parents. Online internet skills will be critical for your kids working life so and we think it should be approached pro-actively from as early an age as your child starts to want to use the computer. The internet is a wonderful encyclopaedic resource and we encourage you to help your children use it for more than just online gaming.
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