Jackson

My Form of Art

            Origami is an ancient form of folk art, which has been practiced for over 1,000 years.  Without glue or scissors, you can turn a sheet of paper into a complex, beautiful design.  Origami has been my favorite form of art for six years.  One of the first designs I learned to make was the paper frog, which I will show how to make right now. It’s a little tricky at first, but with a little practice, you’ll be folding frogs in no time.

What you will need:

* One sheet of paper

* Two hands

* One pencil or pen (optional)

How to fold the frog:

Step 1: Lay the piece of paper in front of you vertically. Fold the sheet of paper to the left so that both edges of the paper come together.

Step 2: Take the top right corner of the paper and fold it diagonally so that it touches the left side. Crease well and unfold.

Step 3: Take the top left corner of the paper and fold it diagonally so that it touches the right side. Crease well and unfold. When you are done, the top half of your paper should have a creased X shape.

Step 4: Flip over your sheet of paper.

Step 5: Take the top of your sheet of paper and fold it down the middle of the X, then unfold. You should have a creased line that runs through the middle of the X.

Step 6: Flip over the paper and push into the area of the X that is sticking out. Push the two side of the paper together and fold down. When you are done, you should have a triangle shaped fold on the top that has two layers.

Step 7: Fold the bottom of the paper up to the base of the triangular fold on the top. Be sure to crease well.

Step 8: Take the corner of the first layer of the triangle section and fold it up to about 1/3 of the way up to make the frog’s front feet. Do the same for both corners of the triangle fold.

Step 9: Fold both sides of the paper into the middle. You might not be able to get all the way to the middle, but try to get as far as possible.

Step 10: Fold the bottom edge up so that it touches the bottom part of the triangle region. Fold well.

Step 11: Look at the flap you just folded. Find the two corners underneath the flap. Carefully pull the corners so that they extend from the body and form triangles. These will become the bottom feet.

Step 12: Fold the flaps downward so that the edges of the feet touch each other.

Step 13: Fold the bottom corners of the feet out so that they form a triangle shape.

Step 14: Fold the frog in half, up to where the top triangle part of the frog meets the legs.

Step 15: Fold the part you just folded in half again, but this time do it downwards.

Congratulations! If you followed all the steps, you have made a paper frog. If you push down on the edge of its back, you can make it hop. If you want to add eyes, you can take a pencil or pen and draw them on the tip of its head.  It might not be perfect the first time, but all art takes practice!

            How do I know so much about origami, you ask? Well, when I was about eight years old, I wanted to try out art. My sister was great at drawing, so I thought, “How about I give it a try?” So I tried. And I failed. So I got really upset about it. I decided to ask my grandma if she knew any other kinds of art I could try. She told me she knew a different kind of art for me, origami. She showed me how to fold a boat and a hat, and I immediately loved it. But I wanted to make more. I told my mom about how I loved origami, and asked her if there were more figures to make. She told me that she could get a handbook full of different figures, and I quickly said yes. Once I got it, I learned to make many more origami figures, like the snake, the swan, and my all-time favorite, the frog. While I do not fold origami as much as I used to, I still make the occasional frog or boat, and I always enjoy it. Origami is one of my favorite pastimes, and I hope it will be yours too. Happy folding!