How to theach origami for very young children?
IS A SIMPLE ICE-CONE-BASE ENOUGH FOR A YEAR?
(The easy way to teach basics-origami in the first form of elementary school, regularly, once a week)
Thirteen years ago the Hungarian educational system was simplier than now. As women had to work full time, like the men, the children usually got into nurseries early (though mothers got the opportunity to spend three years at home with the baby, even got a little money too from the state, but usually the family's financial see-saw could not get into balance without the second wages...) so the basic timetable was looking like this:
children from 1 to 3 years old: in nursery
children from 3 to 6 years old: in kindergarten
children from 6 to 14 years old: in elementary school
students from 14 to 18 years old: in Grammar school or Technical school
and then: college or university, - or a workplace...
A schoolday lasted usually from 8 in the morning to 1 or 2 in the afternoon with the lessons. As the homes were empty in the middle of the day, mother and father worked at their workplaces, children could have lunch at school, and after lunch they spent the afternoon with another teacher in the classroom again, playing a little, and doing the homework. Long workdays for the little ones too...untill 4 in the afternoon.
To make the afternoons more colourful, schools often organises several afternoon-activities, different workshops, movie, puppet-theatre, sport and so on. As the "pocket" of the schools are often empty, the parents are asked to help in these activities - and it happened thirteen years ago with me, when my eldest son entered the first form of elementary school.
My profession is graphics artist, my job was animation, cartoon-film-making that time, so I offered to lead a mini-art-school, where we can play with different ways of art... Well, a collegue of mine, a Daddy was more quick than I, so I had to look for other theme: and then I offered to start with an origami-workshop.
In the very first years I wanted too much: I was on hook of origami and enjoyed every new models as a new little wonder - and wanted the children to feel the same, so sometimes we folded more difficult models than it was neccessary. We followed the seasons, events every year. Once we started the year with a folded little boy, then we folded friends, animals, house, surroundings, amusements for him, as the schoolyear was passing by...
And year by year, the models I taught them, became more and more simple, while reached the final simplicity: to use ONLY ONE BASE during the whole schoolyear.
WHY? Because I found that children can not remember the steps of a more advanced model week by week, and often forget it all when we finish the workshop - but a simple model, a few steps only, even built upon the same well-known base, becomes more familiar to them, and can fold it at home too, or teach it to the brother, friend or the other teachers.
Paperfolding was not unknown in Hungary, so in the kindergartens children often fold some traditional Europian play-ground-folds like Fortune-teller, hat, ship, house, airplain.
In September, when I meet the "new generation" first, I always ask them to fold something what they learned in the kindergarten or at home. Usually I have a lot of folded models with me, enough to play with, and bring home - for everyone. It is a good opportunity to get acquainted with them, learn their names, and see their talent. They can tell me, how did they name the paper's parts, and the folds in the kindergarten. I can also see, is there a "centerpoint" in the class, who will be my right hand, or are there "blackbirds" who will always do the opposite what I ask from them...Usually there are some...
OCTOBER
1st week:
This is the first time that the whole class - usually 26 to 30 children - folds together, after my commands. First we learn the names of the fold - diagonal-fold is the first manuever - we call it papernapkin-fold, because this is the way, how the simple papernapkins are folded for the table, and usually even in the nurseries the little ones may help to fold the papernapkin to triangular form.
The children got two piece of paper. One of them will be folded on the white, the other is on the coloured side. There is a nonstop dialogue between me and the children._ I ask them to explain the difference , why the papernapkin-form is withe, or coloured. Then we open the folds and I ask the children to close their eyes and touch the crease-lines: which is valley, which is mountain.
Now the first ice-cone folds come: we carefully fold the edges to the crease-line in the middle, and I ask them not to fold the edges over one another. "Let us leave a little gap, enough path for a fat ant, but too narrow for a thin ladybird!"
We discuss about the middle-line, and that the edges meet there, - and that they can be opened or closed. We close our eyes again, and with our finger we feel the two edges in the middle. Then we turn the paper to the other side, and closing our eyes again, we touch the paper, - and usually there are children, who shout to my question, that what they feel under their finger, it is mountainfold-line!
When we are ready, we look at the results again, the icecones. The children have to explain, why the cone is coloured while the icecream is white, or why is coloured icecream in the white cone.
With scissors I round the ice-part of the fold, and make a very colourful picture to the wall: on the coloured cardboard we glue several icecones, with or without rounded ice.
It seems that we wasted a lot of thime with such a simple thing with children, who are skilful enough to fold more advanced folds: but this time we had to FIX THE NAMES. With the same words I will tell again and again the words about the square, the edges, the sides, the mountain-and valley-crease-lines, the napkin-fold, the ice-cone fold,the colour-difference, again and again, they will hear it several times, and I also ask them to answer my questions.
Usually during a week I can collect a few models at home, folded by me, because when I'm working on computer-diagramming, I fold the models what I draw, so I can give some little origami-gift for the good answer. These gifts are on the table from the beginning of the lesson, so they mean a good inspiration and keep the interest awake...
2nd lesson in October: Yet we didn't finish with the names, so after repeating the names we talked about last time, we see, what new we can tell about the ice-cone-folds. Now children get two pieces of coloured paper, a small, 10x10 cm, and a larger, 15x15 cm. We fold COLOURED ICECONES, when the ice is white, - lemon-ice - on both paper. We know, which part is the ice-cone-part, - we even exemine it, that the edges open in the middle, and then turn it upsid down: now THE ICE WOULD DROP OUT FROM THE CONE.
We turn it to the other side, and try to find, what is it like. It is similar to a tie, so this form will have the name: TIE. With closed eyes we find the middle crease-line with our fingers, and exemine that the paper does not open in the middle.
Now we fold the form upside down, and call it KITE. The children get a greeteing-card size cardboard, and can glue the small kite on, drawing tail, and face to the paper. The 3-5 best pieces of the larger kites will glued on the coloured cardboard, and then hang on the wall to decorate the classroom.
This will be a long-lasting system: the children fold the model twice, from a larger, and from a smaller paper, and they can always take home a greeting-card with them. On the cardboard the model can stay undamaged untill reach home...
OCTOBER, third lesson
The children get a larger yellow, and a coloured-patterned paper, and 3-4 small yellow, and 2 small coloured-patterned paper, we will decorate an autumn tree with leaves and birdies.
First we fold the leaf from the large yellow paper, after my commands, it is a simple ice-cone fold, turned to the kite-side. They fold ALONE the small yellow papers to ice-cone folds to create the autumn-leaves for their greeting-card.
From the large patterned paper we fold an ice-cone fold too. We look for the middle-line, where it can be opened and closed. I say a new word: INSIDE CORNER, and ask them to look for. From the inside corners we create the legs of the birdie, folding them out, over the edges of the cone. A new manuever: we fold the model in half with the help of the center-line, so white side disappears, and we see the bird. The children guess, where is the tail, the head, the legs. They form the head with simply sinking the mountain-fold into valley with their finger in a small part, - this is an inside reverse fold, but we don't take it too serious this time...
They repeate the bird's folds ALONE on the small papers, and at last, create the greeting cards. With feltpen they draw tree-branches, and glue the leaves and the birds on. For the large picture I collect the best models of larger paper, and create the classroom-decoration.
Fourth lesson in October:
Autumn leaves again, from the larger square they fold the ice-cone after my command, from the 5 small paper they fold alone - but now we fold the ice-cone in half with the help of the middle-line, and with FAN-FOLD we create the nervure of the horse-chesnut-leaf.
Folding the horse-chesnut from brown paper, we learn new words. First we fold the ice-cone, and take the ice-part, and fold it down, : the cone is empty, no white colour is seen. Now we open it up again, and turn it over, to the kite-side. The last crease-line is easy to find, the children take the top of the model and fold it down by the crease-line. Now it seems that the ice is melting from the sun, down on the cone... this white part on the coloured cone will give a lot of opportunity for creating models in the future...Now it will be the "face" of the horse-chesnut, - new manuever, we fold the white corner BEHIND to round the face.
Turn the model upside down, and again, to the other side. Fold the point down - and all we have to do to finish the horse-chesnut is: to ROUND THE CORNERS with tiny folds.
From the five leaves we shape the palm of the horse-chesnut-leaf and glue on the cardboard, and decorate with the glossy brown nuts.
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So, looking back to the programme of October with so many details, I can say that the basic idea is shown: first to talk about the base what we will use, learn the words, fix them by repeating, and then start to develop the basic form with small steps, week to week. Use large paper for learning the model: we can use them for classroom-decoration, and use small paper for the own greeting-card, which usually folded alone.
I always keep the contact with the children asking questions, and give origami-gifts for the good answers.
While commanding the steps, I often stop (it gives a little time for the lazy-hands to carry on), hold the finished model and the half-made one, and ask them to exemine, what is the difference, and what fold would create the result. Thinking about it they can feel the way how a model is built from step by step, and help them in their own creativity. At every step we try to guess, what is the new form alike - they can use their fantasy. (Of course, it is a very simple programme, and soon there will come an interest from some of the children, 4-5 outstanding talents, to learn more advanced models. For them I give "homework", a folded model with diagrammes, - with a little explanation of the signs, arrows - and they can fold it at home...)
The list of folds and models from October to June:
OCTOBER:
1. Learning the basic words, diagonal fold, ice-cone-fold.
Folding and decorating a classrom-decoration with ice-cones.
2. Turning the ice-cone to other side, new words: tie-fold, kite-fold.
Folding and decorating a kite-greeting-card.
3. Autumn-leaves from kite-fold, and little birds form ice-cone-fold.
Autumn-greeting-card with leaves and birds.
4. Horse-chesnut-palm and nuts on greeting-card and classroom-decoration.
NOVEMBER:
1. Raindrops on greeting-cards and wall-decoration with painted umbrella.
The folding-stems are similar to the horse-chesnut.
2. Autumn-dwarfs on greeting-card and classroom-board.
The folding-steps of the head are the same with the raindrop, the body is an ice-cone-fold, ice folded down and hidden under inside corners.
3. Smurfs
Four pieces of blue paper, head and legs are started on blue side, arms and body started on white side. Head and body are same with autumn-dwarf, arms and legs are diamond-bases, shortened on both points. Arms folded in half horizontally, legs in diagonal.
4.Mushrooms
Small ones from two ice-cone folds. Large one's hat is folded from a half blintz-base. (In the second form the blintz will be the basics, so here we can introduce it briefly.)
DECEMBER
1. Simple pine-tree and Santa Claus head and shoulder on greeting-card.
The pine-tree is an ice-cone fold, from the ice-part we form a trunk with a pleat.
Santa's head is from ice-cone fold upside down, from the ice-part the face and beard, from the cone-part the cap will be created. A simple diagonal-fold from a smaller square will make shoulders to complete the card.
2.Standing Santa Claus
The head is the same with last week's work. The body is from ice-cone fold, after folded white borders.
3.Christmas Star
Four and eight-pointed stars from the same base.
From tranparent paper, larger size they are made for the window, from small golden-foiled paper made for greeting-cards.
4.Christmas-bell, pine-tree-branch
The bell is from ice-cone-fold, good opportunity to repeat pleat-folds, the pine-tree-branc is the same with the horse-chesnut-leave, but folded narrow.
JANUARY
1. Clown.
Head is similar to dwarf, body is three diamont-fold, folded in half horizontally for the legs.
2.Carnival-masks: cat, dog, pig, bird
Bird and cat from ice-cone-base, dog and pig from diagonal-fold.
3.Cat, elephant
The heads are very similar to the simple birdie in October, the cat's body is an ice-cone-fold folded in half, the elephant's body is a shortened bookfold.
4. Coconut-tree
The trunk is rolled over, after folded a border on the brown side.
Foliage like pine-tree brancs. folded in half
Coconut- blintz-base, three corners rounded back.
FEBRUARY:
1. Teddybear and panda bear
The head is formed from the cat's head, the body is from the elephant's body.
2. Elephants in the Circus with ball
Repeating the elephant's fold, and folding a ball from blintz-base.
3. Penguines
Ice-cone fold, which leaves space between the inside edges. The ice-hills are diagonal-folds and stripfolds.
4.Ducks, waterlilies
The duck brings new elements: after pleating the ice-cone-fold and folding in half, the outside-reverse folds come with simple pull-out.
Waterlily starts with an irregular diagonalfold, to show more petals.
MARCH
1. Hina-dolls
The bodies are from the traditional hina-dolls, but completed with heads, similar to the dwarf's head, the hair is different.
2.Wind-wheel
The stick is like the coconut-tree-trunk, the wheel is folded from a half-blintz.
3.Watermill
The house is traditional from bookfold, the wheel is the same with last week.
4. Swan
Traditional, narrowing the ice-cone-fold.
APRIL
1. Windmill
The roof is like the simple mushroom, the house is an open blintz-base. The sails are folded from four rectangle. First step: to devide into thirds, then, cornerfolds. 2-2 are fixed together.
2. Rabbit on Easter-egg
The egg is a rounded ice-cone-fold. The rabbit's head and body are the same folding-steps, made from triangular paper.
3.Simple rabbit
Traditional fold, ice-cone-base, pleat for the tail, cut for the ears.
4. Chick
Takahama-chick, great for repeating the pleat and pull-out inside-reverse-folds.
MAY
1. Tulip and simple leaf
The tulip is similar to waterlily but from regular diagonal-fold. The leaf is folded from a triangle, half ice-cone-fold.
2. Koi-nobori
Introducing fish-base from ice-cone-base, traditional carp.
3. Heart for Mother's Day
From fish-base, symmetric folds.
4.Red-foot Goose
The simple bird-shape is changable to peacock or penguine too. Icecone-fold, pleat, turning out the legs .
JUNE
1. Flower in pot
The pot is the traditional cup. The flower is from blintz-base. the leaf is from diamond-base.
2. Decorating the classroom with own creations: flowers from ice-cone-base.
And here it is the end of the school-year.
Try and use this workplan – and please, coment, if it works well … or complain, if it does not work at all.
Happy folding!
Zsuzsanna
