Paper Folding Crafts
In this article, you will find:
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Teaching Origami
What's the best way to teach origami to children? Here are some tips for making it a fun experience for you and them:
Before making a figure, practice it several times until it comes out right every time. There's no better way to lose a kid's attention than to be looking back and forth at instructions while trying to teach.
If possible, have the child sit next to you. If you're working with several children, stand in front of them, make the fold, and then turn around and hold it up so it's facing the same way they are.
For best results, make sure you and the child are working on a fairly large, flat surface.
Try teaching the process one fold at a time. You do a fold, then watch as the child copies you. You may want to do one all the way through first, then break it down step by step.
Starting from a larger square is easier for younger children. Older children can be challenged more by working in increasingly smaller squares.
Use newspaper for making a prototype yourself. Children like this, too, because they'll know it's "just for practice." Save a good sheet of paper for the second or third go-round.
Consider contacting your local newspaper for some newspaper roll ends. That would give you some really BIG pieces of paper. Newsprint's a great, economical craft material.
Air-Craft: Paper Airplanes
Bonding Experiences
One of the easiest ways to learn about flying and aerodynamics is by making and flying paper airplanes. You can make several different types of planes and rate how well they fly. See if you can figure out what makes one better than the next. Is it the size? The paper? The Design? Try improving a particular design by bending the wings or trying different weighting techniques. Experiment! Then go for a glider ride!
Safety Signals
Even though these airplanes are made out of paper, they can actually cause injury if handled carelessly. So don't throw them at anyone, give a warning that an airplane is coming (it can startle someone and cause an accident), and count on their flight path being unpredictable.
Another popular form of paper folding is making paper airplanes. These lend themselves to outdoor fun, as well as all forms of decoration. Simpler airplanes only require folding, but more sophisticated versions can be cut in various ways to change their flight worthiness and quality of flight. Try our paper airplane project by clicking the link.
Now that you're an experienced paper airplane builder, you'll want to try more sophisticated models. There are lots of great books about paper airplane building, and even a couple of computer programs that teach the basics and print out patterns. Try The Greatest Paper Airplanes software from Kitty Hawk. It uses animation and illustration, and allows you to print out patterns, in color, on your printer.
Whether you're making a simple aircraft or one fit for the upper atmosphere, here are some tips for making better paper airplanes:
Use light to medium paper. Heavier paper is appropriate for some types of paper airplanes, but it's hard for a beginner to fold.
Accuracy counts. Make folds carefully and crease them with a fingernail or ruler. You want them crisp and precise.
The first fold is especially important. It needs to be even or your plane will be off balance.
Practice makes perfect. Make the same plane design several times. After you've mastered the basic procedure, try it with different weights of paper and experiment with slight variations.
From here, anything's possible. Once you've become a master paper airplane engineer, you may want to branch out into other forms of construction with paper, such as paper scale modeling and kite building.