We’ve been making and testing little floating boats (post coming soon) for the San Francisco Children’s Creativity Museum, and digging through a fun stack of origami paper (from Daiso) to make sails. While N was busy making a fleet of boats, I folded a family of origami rabbits.
When I was in grade school, I loved origami. One of my good friends was Japanese, and I have strong memories of folding cranes and boats in her house to hang on a community Christmas tree. The cranes were tricky, but learning the series of folds tested and strengthened our memories, while the physical folding was good for fine motor skills.
And when I taught middle school, my students and I were inspired by the story of Sadako and the thousand paper cranes
So while my 3 year old didn’t have a hand in this project, she asked me to keep making more bunnies, and I know first-hand that making these could be quite addictive to children older than mine.
Materials:
- Origami Paper*
- Sharpie
*You can find origami paper in shops such as Daiso, Paper Source, and Jo-Ann Fabrics. There are also a lot of nice choices on Amazon, for example.
Fold your paper in half to make a triangle.
Fold the creased side of the triangle up about 3/4″.
Fold one side toward the center, line up the points, and crease.
Match it on the other side.
Turn it around, and fold the bottom up about 1″. This will be the base.
Flip it over.
Fold the top point inside to create the top of the rabbit’s head. Crease.
Give your rabbit a face.
I used a Sharpie because washable markers would smear on this paper, but you may want to experiment with different kinds of drawing tools. Make one or make a bunch. Because they’re so easy to make, I find the process is pretty addictive and made a little family in a matter of minutes.
Display somewhere festive, hide them around the house, or plant them in funny spots around the neighborhood where friends might find them. If you’re looking for more Easter ideas this week, hop over to our list of 60 egg activities for kids (and grown-ups too) and The Chocolate Muffin Tree’s 10 Egg Activities and Experiments.
And do let me know if you make any bunnies yourself or if you or your kids have a favorite origami project.
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Going to stop back after school to show my daughter – she will love making!
Awesome, Ann. Did you end up making these?
super cute and a timely post for us! today my N has been folding paper fortune tellers with daddy (sick day – home from school with a cold.) also, i’m obsessed with daiso!
Sorry to hear that N has been sick — Scott is sick too. What a dreadful time of the year! Isn’t Daiso great? I’m sort of addicted to that place.
Ah, this post reminded me of the fortune tellers we used to make in school. I tried making some simple origami projects with my son – a frog, a plane, a boat. He mostly watches, but he likes it a lot. And we get to talk through the steps and it’s a wonderful way to learn math.
I loved making those little fortune tellers and predicting my future husbands and such. Thanks for reminding me about those little jumping frogs; I’ve been searching for a good tutorial.Â
Love this! We will try to make these into placecards somehow for the Easter table. We’ve been enjoying the egg experiments too!
That’s a great idea, Sarah! These would be really cute as place cards. And thanks for the feedback on the egg experiments — it makes me so happy to hear that this site is inspiring.
Thank you, they are very pretty and easy!! I love them and I will try to make them for kids at daycare!
Super cute and easy. I made a few in just a few minutes. I think these will look very cute on the table around my easter cookies for the office. Thanks for sharing.
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