For this weeks blog post I wanted to look into the benefits of origami and how it could be used in the classroom.

I found a blog post called Five Benefits of Origami that listed some of the benefits of origami that I wanted to include as I thought the benefits were really interesting. I think it’s fascinating how something that seems like just simply folding paper can have so many positive benefits.

Benefits:

  • Stress Relief
  • Improves Hand-Eye Coordination
  • Boosts Creativity
  • Enhances Patience and Persistence

Photo by ameenfahmy on Unsplash

Using Origami in the Classroom

The articles 5 Reasons Why Origami Improves Students’ Skills by Ainissa Ramirez and Origami Health Benefits: 5 Great Reasons to create Origami as a Family by Allie Gluza have some creative examples of how origami can be used.

“This art form engages students and sneakily enhances their skills — including improved spatial perception and logical and sequential thinking.”

Ainessa Ramirez
  1. Origami can be used to help students understand geometric concepts.
  2. Origami can be used to represent fractions. For example, having students determine how to fold 1/3 the paper.
  3. Origami can teach students problem solving, and that there is more than one way to get an answer, as sometimes people will take different steps to get the paper to look the same way.
  4. Origami can be a great fidget tool during lessons, or if they are finished their assignment something to work on while they wait.

I found this YouTube video on how to make an origami fidget toy. I think this could be a fun project to have students work on in the mornings or during times students finish early.