LIFE LIST UPDATE – No. 339: Make an origami animal

Origami flapping bird

I have to admit that I don’t remember why I put this item on my “life list” other than it had to do with the fact that I think origami is cool and that I’m amazed by the things people can make by simply knowing how to fold paper in the right way. Besides making a paper airplane or paper football every now and then, I’d never tried making anything out of paper, that is, until Saturday when my daughter and I made an origami flapping bird. I think we were both pleasantly surprised by the results.

For those of you unfamiliar with origami, it’s nothing more than the Japanese art of paper folding. It dates back to the 1600s and traditionally follows a few basic rules. You’re supposed to use a flat sheet of square paper, and you’re not allowed to cut it or use glue to make a finished model. The most popular type of origami model is the crane, but you can also make birds, boats, boxes, butterflies, cubes, dishes, elephants, flowers, hats, rabbits, rings and trees. Complex, computer-designed origami models are also possible, but, as you might have imagined, they’re harder to build than the more common types of paper models.

One common type of origami is called “action origami.” It’s a category of origami in which the models actually do something. They move in some way, either on their own due to their position or due to some force that’s applied to them. The oldest type of action origami model in this category is the “flapping bird,” a bird model that flaps its wings when you pull on its tail. I’d seen a number of these models before but had never tried to make one, so my daughter and I decided to try to build one to see if we could pull it off.

We turned to YouTube and in a matter of seconds, we found a great instructional video that showed us how to make a flapping bird in less than 10 minutes. (To watch the video yourself, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZbZJEgFEDw.) We watched it a couple of times, gathered our supplies, which amounted to nothing more than a clean white sheet of copy paper, and got underway.

Following the step-by-step instructions on the video and pausing it here and there to make the proper folds, we made a flapping bird that actually worked. Our first attempt wasn’t perfect, but it still turned out pretty good. With a little bit of practice, I know that it wouldn’t be hard to churn out flapping birds of various sizes all day long with very little effort.

Once you figure out how it’s done and take your time, you come to realize that it’s not nearly as hard as it looks. If you can follow instructions, you can make an origami flapping bird. I’m not saying that it’s as easy as making your typical paper airplane, but it’s not that much harder.

In the end, how many of you have ever tried origami? What sorts of things have you made? How did you learn how to do it? How long did it take? Let us know in the comments section below.