Origami

Origami is the art of folding squares of paper. Projects may be made of one or more sheets of paper, with the pieces folded and held together without the use of glue, tape, or string. One of the most popular models is the paper crane.

Origami is basically a Japanese art where "oru" meaning "folding" and "kami" meaning "paper". The art was originally developed by the Chinese, but later spread to the Japan because the Japanese started producing paper more efficiently and hence their paper was a lot cheaper than that produced by the Chinese. Slowly the art spread across the world and written instructions were produced in the form of books. Today, a lot of material is easily available in the internet.

Educational level: this is a primary education resource.

Subject classification: this is an art and design resource.

In education, origami can be used in primary grades for art and geometry lessons without any stretch of the imagination. Grade school students are able to learn and fold very well (although there are plenty of advanced and complex techniques to keep people interested all their life). In addition, it's certainly a useful topic in any cultural study of Japan, though it is also an interesting part of Chinese and Spanish history as well. A teacher who likes origami would have no problem working something into any school subject.

Practicing origami has frequently been shown to help develop spatial skills and other cognitive processes.

Origami folds

Almost all origami books use an internationally known set of symbols which are well represented elsewhere. Here are a few of the most important ones:

Mountain Folds	A mountain fold is created by folding the paper back.
Valley folds	A valley fold is created by folding the paper towards you.
Creases	Creases are frequently used in origami as guides and to make more complex folds easier. Direction is sometimes important, as folding and unfolding a valley or mountain fold will affect which direction the paper will naturally fold later.	Fold and unfold mountain.
		Fold and unfold valley
Open or Squash fold	Opening a pocket formed by the folds and flattening it in a different direction is more complicated, but a frequently-used technique.
Inside reverse	An inside reverse fold is created by pushing a folded edge down, creating two mountain folds.
Outside reverse	An outside reverse fold is created by pulling a folded edge back, creating two valley folds. It is often necessary to open the original fold somewhat in order to do this.

Examples

• Examples 1
• Examples 2