Origami for Kids

The origami crane is probably the most popular origami creation that exists. When people think of origami, they often think of the origami crane, and for this reason I think it is important for anyone who likes origami to know how to make an origami crane.

Many origami guides / diagrams found online are often very confusing. The first time I tried to make a simple origami crane, I got very confused and it took me nearly an hour and three different tries to make a finished one. For this reason I have tried to create the most simple and easy origami crane instructions. In this guide I have tried to use a lot of pictures, and hopefully this will make this origami guide very clear.

Origami Crane Instructions (difficulty = medium):

1.) Take a square piece of paper (a bigger one is probably best for your first try), and fold it diagonally both ways and then unfold it.

Fold the paper in half. And then fold it in half again to create a square.

2.) Now unfold the square back into the rectangle shape. Fold one side of the paper towards the middle to make a triangle shape. This should be easy to do because their are already creases there.

Now flip over the origami, so that the side you folded is facing down and repeat this same folding again on the other side.

The next step is to basically create a square from the triangle you have made. To do this, open the triangle from the bottom holding it from the bottom of the front and back sides. Pull both sides apart and then it should almost naturally be able to be pushed into a square shape.

3.) Now, with your newly created diamond / square seen above; make it so that the open end of the diamond is facing you (the side where you can open it) and fold the edges of the diamond inward so that you get the picture below. The end closest to the straight line, formed by making the folds, should be the closed side. Making these two folds to both sides should give you the origami picture below.

Fold the top part of the origami both ways, and then unfold it. Also, unfold one side of the origami as seen in the third image below.

4) Lift up the bottom corner / flap from the side that you unopened in the previous step. While holding your finger on the crease at the top, lift up the flap and bring it over your finger. Pull your finger out and fold the flap down, creating a new diamond shape.Repeat this step for the other side.

Flip this new diamond shape origami so that it is vertical. Now fold in the outside edges towards the middle. Make sure that the folds are made so that when they come together, they sort of point to the side of the origami on which both sides are not connected (kind of like two legs).

Now take both sides of the origami and fold them together. Do this to both sides. The origami will look about the same shape, except that the creases you see will look different.

Take the bottom flap (the solid end, aka not legs side), and fold it up so that it almost reaches the “legs side”. Also do this to the other side.

5) With this new shape take both ends and fold them together, so that they are touching. Do this for both sides.

Now the side facing you and the one facing the floor will become the wings. Just fold these down so that they look like wings.

Hey, now this whole origami think is actually starting to look like a crane! Just make one of the remaining ends and fold it to make it look like a head. You can also change the angle of the tail and neck.

Congratulations! You have just learned how to make an origami crane. Don’t worry if your first crane comes out a bit sloppy, just keep trying and eventually you will be able to make perfect origami cranes every time. Once you get the hang of this, you can start trying to use smaller origami paper, and or fancier paper etc. I hope you enjoyed these easy simple origami instructions. If for some reason this origami diagram is not clear, then just leave a comment here.

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