Kirigami Craft Projects With Children
Kirigami is the ancient art of paper cutting from Japan.
It is a very fun and creative craft that almost anyone, even children can do.
Basically, if a child can use scissors, they can create simple kirigami and as they get older, the projects and get more complicated and detailed.
Not only is kirigami a fun and creative craft for children work on own or with their families, they are also very beneficial for physical development of their fine motor skills and a way to add educational learning with it.
For parents who would like to make every fun game educational, you can easily teach preschool and kindergarten children basic vocabulary by using paper with different colours, weights, textures and shapes.
You can also make a list of words to teach from the images that will be drawn.
For example, making a weather theme and teaching the children words like sun, cloud, rainbow etc...
Finally, it's a wonderful way to give step-by-step instructions and teach the children verbs like fold, draw, cut, glue and so on.
There are endless ways to create educational material from the same craft.
Kirigami is certainly a fun craft that allows the imagination to soar, the key is to start off with easy images and patterns then work towards the more intricate designs that will require small precise cuts.
Beginner Kirigami Start off with a sheet of paper of any size, shape and type that you may have on hand.
Fold it in half and then starting from the folded edge; draw the outline of half an image or simple pattern like zigzags.
Try simple images like half a heart, circle, cloud, star, triangle, flower or anything else you would like to try.
Cut along the lines, making sure at least one part of the folded edge is included since this is what will keep both of the sides together.
Open it up and see what you've created! From here, it's easy to paste the kirigami cut out on a greeting card or making a simple cardboard frame.
The children can also decorate the kirigami and hang it up with ribbon as decoration.
Having the work displayed is always important to a child because it shows the value of their work and will naturally encourage them to continue their creative work.
Advanced Kirigami If you would like to make something a little more difficult and challenge the older children, take a sheet of paper and now fold it twice or even three times lengthwise.
This will give you a long narrow working area for a pattern or image.
Draw a pattern that includes at least one part of both folded sides (left and right) and cut along the lines again.
When you open this kirigami up, the initial pattern will repeat itself in parallel lines, in an accordion manner.
These kirigami cut outs are great to string up as mobiles, window hangings, decorative paper table cloths, and for different party/gift decorations.
Play with the kirigami techniques and styles, try using different types of scissors with decorative blades (like waves, zigzags etc...
) and try assorted paper weights, from heavy cardboard to tissue paper for unique effects.
It is a very fun and creative craft that almost anyone, even children can do.
Basically, if a child can use scissors, they can create simple kirigami and as they get older, the projects and get more complicated and detailed.
Not only is kirigami a fun and creative craft for children work on own or with their families, they are also very beneficial for physical development of their fine motor skills and a way to add educational learning with it.
For parents who would like to make every fun game educational, you can easily teach preschool and kindergarten children basic vocabulary by using paper with different colours, weights, textures and shapes.
You can also make a list of words to teach from the images that will be drawn.
For example, making a weather theme and teaching the children words like sun, cloud, rainbow etc...
Finally, it's a wonderful way to give step-by-step instructions and teach the children verbs like fold, draw, cut, glue and so on.
There are endless ways to create educational material from the same craft.
Kirigami is certainly a fun craft that allows the imagination to soar, the key is to start off with easy images and patterns then work towards the more intricate designs that will require small precise cuts.
Beginner Kirigami Start off with a sheet of paper of any size, shape and type that you may have on hand.
Fold it in half and then starting from the folded edge; draw the outline of half an image or simple pattern like zigzags.
Try simple images like half a heart, circle, cloud, star, triangle, flower or anything else you would like to try.
Cut along the lines, making sure at least one part of the folded edge is included since this is what will keep both of the sides together.
Open it up and see what you've created! From here, it's easy to paste the kirigami cut out on a greeting card or making a simple cardboard frame.
The children can also decorate the kirigami and hang it up with ribbon as decoration.
Having the work displayed is always important to a child because it shows the value of their work and will naturally encourage them to continue their creative work.
Advanced Kirigami If you would like to make something a little more difficult and challenge the older children, take a sheet of paper and now fold it twice or even three times lengthwise.
This will give you a long narrow working area for a pattern or image.
Draw a pattern that includes at least one part of both folded sides (left and right) and cut along the lines again.
When you open this kirigami up, the initial pattern will repeat itself in parallel lines, in an accordion manner.
These kirigami cut outs are great to string up as mobiles, window hangings, decorative paper table cloths, and for different party/gift decorations.
Play with the kirigami techniques and styles, try using different types of scissors with decorative blades (like waves, zigzags etc...
) and try assorted paper weights, from heavy cardboard to tissue paper for unique effects.
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