Easy Origami for Kids
Looking for very simple Origami for Kids? Look no further, we have a collection of easy Origami projects for kids for you try. Start them of with super simple patterns and instructions, and once their paper folding skills grow, move them onto the next cute project! There are some HUGE Educational Benefits to Origami! Do check them out.
I used to think that Origami was too hard. As you have to be super neat and follow so many instructions to creat a finished origami project. But then I realised this wasn’t the case. It was all about finding the RIGHT origami beginners project to get you started. Many origami patterns are actually quite forgiving and great for kids of all ages. I have a lot of carers of dementia patients, that love these easy origami projects too.
Starting off and learning origami is all about the RIGHT projects to begin, for example making Origami Corner Bookmarks is a great way to get beginners started to learn how to do Origami! Don’t expect to be able to make origami cranes straight away.
Start simple and work your way up!
I hope you love these fun origami kids ideas as much as we do!
The difference between Origami and Kirigami
There is also a difference between origami (which tends to use a square piece of paper and folding techniques) and kirigami (which can use any shaped paper and requires a little cutting too).
But I find when it comes to kids, doing a mix of the two is best.
We also like to embellish our paper crafts with pens or sticking on details such as kawaii eyes and facial features.
What age should you start Origami? Can 5 year olds do origami?
Absolutely! You can start children on origami at a very young age. It is wonderful for fine motor skills and spacial awareness, as well as talking about shapes.
As mentioned, we have a whole section on the Educational Benefits of Origami, as well as special “subset” of Origami for Preschoolers to help you get started! Origami is great for building basic math skills – looking at symmerty and angles!
Origami is also great for dementia patience to help keep the mind more active.
What is the easiest origami flower to make?
This is a question I often get asked!
And it is without question the super simple and oh so easy origami tulip! Start off with just the flower head and then later, when you and your child feel more confident, add a flower stem too. Then make a whole bunch of them. So cute.
Origami tulips are gorgeous as window decorations, as part of greeting cards, wall decorations or collages! They really are fun origami project to make, especially in spring and around Easter.
What is the easiest origami animal to make?
We have a whole set of amazing and easy Animal Origami projects for you have a go at.
But if you are starting out, the easiest origami animal, is probably the simple origami cat face (a Tiger Face version of this is on auto play on this article for you). This is also very similar to our popular origami dog face.
What supplies do I need to make origami?
Generally speaking all you need is one square paper – no specialist origami paper necessary!
Though we do often like to add little embellishments with black markers… and you can also start off with a rectangular piece of paper and cut it down to a square piece of paper.
Any paper goes. Though specialist square origami paper is great, as it is usually a little thinner and can come in pretty patterns or “double sided” and lots of different colors and patterns. But if in doubt, just some regular printer paper will do!
What makes origami really special is that you don’t need a template to make so many cool things! A great inexpensive hobby with plenty of options.
Easy Animal Origami Tutorials for Kids and Beginners
Let’s kick things off with some simple origami animals. Kids always love animal crafts, so they are fun projects to begin with. And of course, super cute too!
Let’s start with this cutie for younger children. This little easy Origami bunny is probably one of the best Origami Projects for kids that you can start out on (well these and the tulips, but I find that the bunnies have more appeal to both boys and girls – say what you like.. but I do find boys and girls have slightly different preferences). See how we turned this into an easy origami rabbit for the Year of the Rabbit by playing with the colours and patterns of the paper!
Older kids, can then give this type of easy Paper Origami Rabbit a go – this rabbit is still an EASY make for kids, but probably a good “next step” from the previous slightly (!) easy bunny we shared above! This origami rabbit is perfect for Chinese New Year and the Year of the Rabbit too!
Next in our list of easy origami ideas, are these “how to make tangram shapes” and turn these tangrams into cute origami tangram chickens!
Super easy origami egg cups for kids to make! A great Origami pattern for kids to get excited about this traditional paper folding craft and technique!
So this isn’t an animal per se… but should your origami bunnies get peckish.. why not grab some orange origami paper and make them an Origami Carrot or two to nibble on (these would look lovely as a garland or as part on Easter Card!). Definitely part of our Easter Origami collection.
Kids of all ages love our corner bookmarks. We especially love these ADORABLE Bunny Bookmarks are actually part of a SERIES of corner bookmarks on both my blog and YouTube channel. My YouTube viewers are forever asking for new Corner Bookmark designs.. and so I oblige! 🙂 if there is a book corner design you would like to see, leave me a comment on YouTube and I will see what I can do! These are also part of our lovely Easter Origami Ideas.
Another easy peasy one for you. If you like these Origami Birds.. you may also like these Paper Bird Finger Puppets. This is a great activity for any homemade puppet shows.
More Doodle Bird Fun! How quirky are these? These cute origami birds are super popular and fun to make.
Oink oink!! Easy Origami Pig! These guys always make me smile. They would look lovely as part of a greeting card or a crafty activity for a farm unit in the classroom.
Not wanting to bore you to death with all our corner bookmarks…… but here is another example of our most popular bookmarks today: easy monster bookmarks. Perfect. Do check out the rest of them too!
You can have lots of fun with these Jumping Frog Origami – this is the easiest of all frog designs and they are GREAT fun to make JUMP!
My daughter loves this simple origami fish. Have a go at the simple steps to make this Easy Fish Origami – this is a super cute and easy origami fish to try out and includes some “new” folds for kids to try! I think we need an origami shark next (watch this space!).
As cat owners and cat lovers, we needed to have a go at these super simple Origami Cats! My kids adore them and they are as easy as the ever popular Origami Bunnies shared above.
Similarly, you can make easy origami cats… and then turn them into these fabulously easy Origami Tigers! How cute?!
Next steps? Check out these STANDING cute origami cats! My kiddos love making these!
Now also as a set of adorable Black Cats for Halloween!
Similarly we have some cute Origami Dogs – turn them into the Puppy Emoji? Definitely a popular and easy origami dog to give a go, especially if working with young children in kindergarten or preschool!
One easy origami bear.. turn it into 3 different crafts – the origami polar bear, origami panda and the origami bear
Aren’t these Origami Whales simply the cutest? Nice and easy too! Promise!! Similarly! Turn your favourite Whale Origami into a “I Whaley Whaley Like You” card – easy Valentine’s Origami Whale!
Or how about these adorable Easy Origami Dogs? If you love Scotties, you will love these little guys. Great as an on the go paper toy!
Cutest little Origami Penguins – these double up nicely as Greeting Cards or Thank You notes
And a super easy Origami Paddington Bear – adorable and suprisingly easy (turn it into Padding Bear Party invites?)
These little Paper Butterflies are still classes as “easy” in my books, however, they are better for the a child that feels a LITTLE confident in making origami crafts already. They are easy, but just need a little more skills! DO try them, as I think these Origami Butterflies make a great decoration.
EVEN easier are these Origami Butterflies! Aren’t they just so pretty?!
We haev another great Origami Butterflies pattern here
Here is an Origami classic – and a fantastic Origami project for beginners – The Origami Swan, it very much has that “classic” Origami look about it and introduces some basic folds (i.e. the head) that you will find in many origami projects for kids. So do take a look at this easy paper swan. It is cute and teaches you great skills!
Super cute and EASY Origami Bats. The kids will love these! Simliarly.. you can turn your lovely bat into an: I am Batty About You – Valentine’s Origami Bat – Bookmark or greeting card.
Decorative Origami for Kids
Actually, ALL origami is decorative, including MANY of the lovely ideas above, but I had to somehow group these sections to make browsing easier…. Maybe I should have done it by Origami season!!! Ha.
We adore these origami tulips. The head of the tulip is SUPER easy for kids to make. You can make just the head and then stick it on a card and draw the rest, creating a wonderful tulip collage – perfect for mother’s day. The stems are still easy, but I would say a “next step” for a child, who is a little bit more confident in the basics of origami! A bunch of origami flowers are always perfect for Mom on Mother’s Day!
And another CUTE Halloween Origami – learn how to make these easy origami ghosts – they look great on their own, as bookmarks, as part of a greeting card and are quickly and easily transformed into a origami garland too! Adorable. Part of our collection of Halloween Origami projects!
Have some doodle fun with these Witch Hat Origami patterns. Make your basic Witch Hat and then decorate to your heart’s content. They would look fabulous strung up as a garland too. More Halloween Origami ideas here.
I love this Paper Star Wreath – my 10yrs old neighbour taught me how to make this Origami Star, which doubles up nicely as a wreath too. Make it in any colour combination and it looks simply wonderful!
We love these little Origami Christmas Tree – they are definitely for a slightly more confident child, but once you have the hang of it, it is super easy and fun to make.. and you will be making 100s all day long!
I ADORE these 3D Paper Star Bowls – they look great, but are also practical!
Play Origami for Kids
These are the Origami Projects for kids that you can then PLAY with!
I ADORE these oh so easy Paper House. This is a craft from childhood memories and is super duper easy to make.. you can then decorate and play. We LOVED making it as part of a “3 Little Pigs Play Set” we created.
A nice take on the very simple paper cups origami. These Origami Paper Cups can be used in SO MANY different ways – from this simple ball toss game, to actually drinking water from them, to hanging 24 in a row and making your own Origami Advent calendar.. so many possibilities and one easy paper cup Origami craft!
Similarly we made some SUPER cute Black Cat Paper Cups – these are a lovely little decoration or work well as finger puppets too. A fabulous paper Halloween Craft indeed!
Here is a cute adaptation of this paper craft and turning it into a fun shark origami paper toy!! We created this one for our Sky Kids special.
We also have a fantastic Frankenstein Ball & Cup game made out of origami! Another fun and easy Halloween Origami Project!
We love Cootie Catchers or Fortune Tellers and have quite a colletcion of them on Red Ted Art (including mainy printable versions or decorate your own. These are some very special CHRISTMAS COOTIE CATCHERS. You can either print out our free Christmas printables… or watch the video and make your own “plain” Origami fortune teller that you can decorate and write in yourself! Yes.. this is most DEFINITELY a childhood class and every child should learn to make one!
Another childhood classic origami pattern are these adorable little Origami Boats or Paper Boats. This is one of the first origami patterns I taught my children (eventhough many of the above origami for kids ideas are easier), because I have a personal strong association with these from my childhood… you can make them, any time, anywhere and have lots of playful fun! Love.
These Origami Cubes are so much fun. They are a little harder, but still manageable are these DIY Paper Water Bombs. So much summer fun!!
Also..have lost of fun with these easy diy ORIGAMI Ninja Stars. There are a number of paper Ninja Stars to explore, we think this pattern is one of the easiest! And you can easily adapt it to make a PAPER Fidget Spinner out of it!
Other Origami Patterns to try
Adorable Origami Dress Pattern – quick to learn, fun to make!
And the same pattern and be easily converted into a darling POP UP Dress Card for Mother’s Day, Prom’s Day or a Wedding Card!
Easy Origami Shirts with Superman Logos (learn to draw these!)
Stationery Origami for Kids
Practical origami projects that you can use!
Fabulous Paper Box! Great for small gifts and trinkets!
Similarly we have a fabulous rectangular Origami Box for you to check out and try too!
We do love these cute mini concertina photo albums! Adorable!
Cute and easy Origami Rings!
These little heart bookcorners “technically” are more Kirigami can Origami.. but they are so cute and again, so easy, that I think they need including in an round up of easy origami for kids!!! You don’t HAVE to use them as bookmarks, again, these would look really nice on a DIY Valentine’s Day Card or similar!
Similarly there is a TINY bit of cutting involved in these fabulous MINI NOTEBOOKS. Making them Kirigami and not origami.. but no glue needed! Aren’t they fun.
Adorable Cute Origami Envelopes – decorated as Winter Animals
These are super simple Origami Envelope Chicks!!! Write a letter, fold your envelope, decorate and post!! Job done. And OH SO CUTE!
Learn how to make newspaper origami envelopes! And decorate them in bright colours.
Whilst on the lovely Paper Owl Crafts.. check out these oh so cute Paper Owl Pencil Toppers! Darling! They double up nicely as Owl Finger Puppets too!
More fabulous Origami for Kids from sites we love!
From sites we love…. we adore these origami faces from Pink Stripey Socks. Aren’t they simply fun!? If you look here, she also has a fabulous origami mermaid!
Fantastic little Origami Mushrooms. Aren’t they adorable? The little worms are just the best little detail. Check out the wonderful Krokotak for full step by step origami for kids instructions!
For the NEXT LEVEL , ie Intermediate Origami for older Kids, take a look at these:
Origami Mice – this is a great craft for the Year of the Rat too!
Origami Boomerang that really comes back
So.. are you tempted to give these beginner origami for kids projects a go?! I do hope so. Have lots and lots of fun exploring these paper crafts!
If you liked the DIY Bookmark corners above.. we have now put them all together for you here over 20 designs to choose from!
We also have a dedicated section for Halloween Origami and Easter Origami!