Origami Zoo for Novice Folders Curious About the Ancient Art of Paper Folding

Origami is a wonderful art form that people of all ages and cultures have enjoyed for centuries. It is a fun and engaging activity, and provides a wide range of educational benefits that can help children develop important cognitive and motor skills.

While your child works through the hands-on art of paper folding, they will also practice the skills of patience, diligence, and resiliency. Having to follow a set of instructions and - sometimes having to back track and figure out what went wrong - is an incredibly important skill that you child can take into the rest of their life. 

Additionally, you will see enhanced focus and listening skills. Plus improvements in self confidence! It is challenging to work through even the simplest of designs and your child will quickly associate the reward of completion with the skills of listening and perseverance.  

There are SO many benefits to learning origami!

Through various hands-on activities and engaging lessons, learners will acquire the basic techniques of paper folding and progress to creating increasingly complex designs.

IS ORIGAMI EDUCATIONAL?

One of the most important educational merits of origami is that it helps to improve spatial reasoning skills. By manipulating and folding paper into various shapes and patterns, children develop their ability to understand and visualize spatial relationships. This can be especially helpful in math, science, engineering, and architecture.

In addition to improving spatial reasoning skills, origami can help children develop fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. These skills are essential for many everyday activities, such as writing, typing, and playing sports.

Moreover, origami can provide a sense of relaxation and stress relief. The repetitive folding and unfolding of paper can be meditative and calming, which can be especially helpful for children experiencing anxiety or stress.

Finally, origami can also foster social connections and friendships. By participating in a virtual origami class, children can interact with peers who share their interests and learn from each other. This can help to build self-confidence, social skills, and a sense of belonging. Each class will feature student led conversations around the daily prompt. The prompt is related to the origami task of the day (e.g. if we are folding owls, the prompt would be around owl behavior and habitat).

CLASS STRUCTURE:
1. Welcome and chat (3 minutes)
2. Origami folding - we'll create as many projects as student skill level allows (40 minutes)
3. Closing of the class (2 minutes)

WEEKLY SCHEDULE
**There will be no class on July 4th. All other sessions will run this week

Week of June 26th: Chickadees

Week July 3rd: The Crane

Week July 10th: Owls
. 
Week July 17th: Jumping Frogs

Week July 24th: Butterflies

Week July 31st: TBD

Week August 7th: TBD

Week August 14th: TBD

Week August 21st: TBD

Week August 28th: TBD