Origami Animals | The Photography Shack

Both meditation and origami have a few things in common, which makes them a most ideal partnership. First, they each require focus. In order to be able to meditate or complete an origami project, you need to be able to focus on a single point and allow everything else to slip away. Next, there must be quiet.

Both meditation and creating origami animals are best practiced in a quiet and relaxed area away from any interruptions. In order to meditate or to make origami, you need to practice each art form until you are able to easily complete the task at hand.

When building origami animals, as with meditation, you must free your mind of outside distractions. Concentrate on each fold and crease that you make until you enter a state of inner peace and calm. The essence of mediation is to clear your mind and focus solely on what is before you. In this way, origami and meditation are two halves that complete the whole.

Creating A Crane With Wings

Want to make an origami crane? These few steps instruct you on how to make a crane with beautiful wings. First you will need a square piece of craft or Japanese paper, and the smaller the sheet, the smaller the final crane will be.

If you have a sheet that is colored on one side, then begin with the sheet face down (white side down) on your work surface. Start by folding one corner to meet the other diagonally, thus forming a rectangle.

White Side Is Out

Now open the sheet up and lay it out flat again. Fold it diagonally so that the white side is out. Line up each corner to get a triangle. Now then, open up the sheet of craft paper.

Lay the paper with the white side up and bring in the side corners, while bringing the top corner down to get a square. With the open sides pointing downward, fold one corner of the square so that the edge is lined up perfectly with the center line, and repeat this step with the other flap.

Looks Like A Kite

Now flip the model over and repeat this step on the back side flaps. What you have now looks similar to a kite.

Fold the top flap of the "kite" down and crease it hard with your fingernail. Next fold it the same way but in the opposite direction, making a sharp crease. Next, things get a little tricky. You will open up one side, and lay it flat.

Getting The Diamond Shape

Lift the top flap of the "kite" on the open end and fold it upwards, bringing in the sides and lay flat to get a diamond shape. Flip over the model and repeat on the other side.

Next you will fold two of the flaps over and then repeat this step on the other lower flap. Fold one flap over and lay it flat so that each side is lined up and the points are up. Now you will fold the top flap down to reveal one wing.

Form A Bowing Head

Flip over and repeat. Invert one of the upper tips like this to form a bowing head. Pull back the other tip slightly to form the crane's tail. Now gently pull the wings apart to "inflate" the body.

This type of concentration and skill level takes time to master as you practice this simple origami model (the crane) over and over again. The more you practice, the more you can improve and the deeper your mediation will become.

This, in turn, can result in more complex origami animals and deeper relaxation. The right origami techniques can give you a sense of inner peace, just like meditation can.

More Origami Ideas....

How is origami used for practical purposes in teaching?
Educational applications for origami are varied. Almost instantly, one can see that geometry can be paired with the folding art. Identification of shapes and angles formed by the folds and the relationships between them can easily be accomplished with even the simplest folding pattern.

Trigonometry, the study of triangles, can benefit from the visualization of problems using folds as lines to intersect points on the paper. In this manner, students can see the problem, instead of having to visualize it in their mind.

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