We’re all about Japan this month! From colouring to origami Christmas cards, and even in our upcoming Multicultural Gift Guide, we do love all things Japanese, and origami is definitely up in our top picks. Keep your eyes peeled as next year I will embark on a series of the A-Z of Japan as I reminisce about my life in Japan, some of the experiences I had, and what I’ve learned since then. Now back to this post…today I’m welcoming you to the Origami Jungle!
Tuttle Publishing has been keeping my children busy and engaged. They sent us Origami Birds and Origami Jungle which has brought some warmth and sunshine into the ever-more dark and dreary days leading into winter.
Origami Jungle
Earlier this year the children used a science program that was all about the rainforest, so it was nice that they could continue on some of the learning in a fun way.
Origami Jungle (this post contains affiliate links) by Michael G. LaFosse comes in a slim-line pox that slides easily into our bookshelf on the TV stand (easy access for the kids so they can pull it out and fold at their convenience.
The box contains:
- 2 instruction booklets with step-by step instructions and lots of illustrations.
- 42 projects
- 90 sheets of paper: plain, patterned, and 2 foiled
The projects range from very simple to more complex. My little monkeys swung the books open and went ape over the banana and banana leaf projects! These are great projects for beginners to start with and the kids were able to follow the directions and make these completely on their own.
The next projects they chose were the tiger mask and the elephant head. On this day we had the kit with us at the library to work on before the kids book club started. They were very proud of their creations and sent them to Japan with a Thanksgiving card for the children of a colleague of mine. In return they received cute Jack-o-lanterns back with a little message!
Another day we went to another library where one of ‘our’ favourite librarians has been moved to (temporarily, we hope). She wasn’t working that day, but the kids folded some origami for her and wrote her a message. They were so surprised and overjoyed when they received a card and message through the post in return! Have I mentioned before how much we love our library?
Other projects they’ve done are a cobra and a panda. Kallista’s favourite was the terrapin (river turtle) – she made two of them and took good care of them. She moved them around the front room, and talked to them each day. It was so cute!
Additional projects include:
- orchid
- tarantula
- jumping frog
- gorilla
- chameleon
- piranha
- crocodile
- and many more
If you have a child who loves the jungle or creepy-crawlies then they’ll love this kit! It would be great to have on hand to pull out on a snow day to dream of warmer climates, or to keep a child busy when they’re home sick from school.
Turn it into a learning unit and have your children research more about each creature they fold! Yes – this is what we can do 🙂 Read up on an animal/insect first and then as a ‘reward’ for learning the kids can make the project. Then each time that they see the animal in the future they can remember what they’ve learned.
As the kids fold their projects, more ways to use them are unfolding in my mind. How do you use origami? I’d love to hear if you do it for the pure pleasure or if you incorporate it into additional learning opportunities. Let me know in the comments below!
If you’d like to know more or would like to follow Tuttle Publishing, you can connect with them through their website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest (and you can see our other Tuttle reviews here).
If you’re interested in purchasing this kit or other great origami supplies, here are some Amazon links for you:
