School Mid-term Break

School mid-term break is in for 2 weeks starting yesterday. As both my hubby and I are unable to take the little guy away for a family holiday for now, we have made some plans for the little guy.

Here’s something we found that is good family activity – Origami!

Origami (Japanese: 折り紙; ori, to fold, and kami, paper; "folding paper") is the Japanese art of paper folding. The goal of this art is to create three-dimensional paper figures using geometric folds and crease patterns. Today, origami refers to all types of paper folding, even those of non-Japanese origin. 

I found in my ‘treasure box” a stack of colour origami papers which is approximately 6”x 6” that I bought from Daiso (a slowly gaining popularity, RM5.00 per item concept chain store).

And, we found a helpful friend in Youtube! The little guy followed the video and made a butterfly himself!

To start off, here’s one of a simple jumping frog that kids love, especially toddlers…


And this is what he did with his Dad this afternoon,

Origami fireworks

Kids love origami. We started origami as a family activity when the little guy was just 2+, showing him and then teaching him how to make a ball, a simple boat, a jet-plane and a crane.

Some of the stuff he has done when he has the time.

You may want to read more about the benefits of origami. Here’s what some experts say about origami.

Origami builds fine motor skills and is a fun family craft. It can help develop fine motor skill.

…and in the medical field,

“..Many therapists use paperfolding in their fields of medicine. Physical therapist use origami as a fun way to exercise hand muscles that they are trying to rehabilitate. People who suffer from arthritis or other physical problems also report that as they fold origami figures, the muscles in their hands are strengthened. Psychologists, as well, are using origami in their medical field. They have found that the coordinated work of both hands when folding origami helps with the development of motor skills, as well as attention, memory, and imagination processes. The folding of origami can also be helpful to some people because it can be a tool by which they can relieve stress” Extracted from http://library.thinkquest.org

Check this up, at RachelKatz's site and if you want to know more of the history of origami.

The crane is perhaps the most popular origami model, click here for a tutorial. Make this a fun family activity this school holiday with your kids.

The Crane is a symbol of peace…

A visit to the local shopping mall, Sunway Pyramid last month, we saw many paper cranes folded by customers and visitors, to let the Japanese know that we understand, we care and we sympathise with their loss in the recent earthquake that devastated the north-eastern coast of their largest main island, Honshu.

TO JAPAN WE CARE @ SUNWAY PYRAMID

According to a well-known Japanese legend, a thousand origami cranes will make wishes come true and the messages written on the wings will reach the desired person.
This initiative is supported by the Japan Foundation Kuala Lumpur (JFKL).

If you are keen, you can visit your local bookstore for some books on Origami and you can also order some good ones from Amazon.


































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Have a fun school break!