Super easy! Origami play ideas for autumn that even 1-year-olds can do
Autumn is full of natural treasures that nurture children’s sensitivity, like leaves in every color and cute, round nuts and berries.
Why not bring that autumn feeling into your craft time? Here, we’ve gathered ideas for craft activities using origami that even one-year-olds can try.
We’ve packed in plenty of ways to enjoy working with origami while using little fingers—of course folding, but also tearing and crumpling to make fun creations.
The motifs are all about the autumn season—fallen leaves, mushrooms, and Halloween favorites like pumpkins and ghosts! We’ve included projects that are easy for children trying origami for the first time, so use these ideas as a guide and create some lovely, autumn-themed works together.
Super easy! Fall origami play ideas that even 1-year-olds can do (1–10)
Halloween garland
https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ch9qQGtJ6K4/Let’s make garlands to decorate your room or walls and create a fun Halloween atmosphere.
They’re very easy to make: unfold a piece of origami paper that’s been folded into a triangle, then fold both sides inward along the center crease to form a triangle.
Apply glue to the small triangular flap at the top, place a string inside, and fold it down to secure.
Match the colors of the triangles and draw ghosts, pumpkins, skulls, and more.
Your colorful, cute garland is complete.
It’ll also look adorable paired with items like chenille stems from the 100-yen shop.
Grapes made by crumpling origami paper
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cg9EQ8wN-7W/Here’s an idea for making grapes by crumpling origami paper that’s fun to create, too.
You’ll need purple and light purple origami paper, plus a plastic bag.
Choose a small, clear bag.
Once you have the materials, crumple each sheet of origami paper into a ball.
The texture feels nice, so I think you’ll enjoy the process.
After you’ve finished crumpling them all, put them into the plastic bag, then cut the bag into an inverted triangle shape to finish.
It clearly looks like grapes and has a cute charm to it.
Buzzy Monster
https://www.instagram.com/p/CicVF81pkX8/Speaking of Halloween, it’s all about ghosts, right? By the way, have you ever noticed that when you’re thinking a ghost might appear, everything you see starts to look like a ghost? Here’s a “shivery monster” craft that seems to play on that psychology.
It’s easy to make: tear origami or colored paper into any shapes you like, imagine them as ghosts, and add eyes and mouths.
Using dot stickers for the eyes is simple and really sets the mood.
Make lots of colorful, fun ghosts and decorate the wall—they’ll look great!
three-dimensional sweet potato
https://www.instagram.com/p/CUcexxrhjZC/Let’s make a three-dimensional roasted sweet potato you can hold and play with.
First, tear the reddish-purple origami paper for the skin diagonally and crumple it by hand.
Then crumple the yellow origami paper for the inside and form it into a ball, and wrap the reddish-purple paper around it.
Secure it with clear tape, then wrap crumpled aluminum foil around the outside, shape it, and you’re done.
It’s fun to use for pretend play or to display in a basket—give making this roasted sweet potato a try!
A mountain of crimson leaves with just a single fold
This one is a bit abstract, but we’ll make a mountain of autumn foliage.
Prepare a sheet of origami folded into a triangle, then tear several colors of origami paper into squares and paste them on however you like.
You’ll end up with your very own original mountain.
Tearing the paper is fun, and it’s also good practice for fine motor control.
You can make it more engaging by giving it a story—like saying, “This red part is the autumn leaves,” and so on.
It might also be nice to use a large sheet folded into a triangle and create a big mountain together with several people.
Sweet potato that breaks in two folds
Speaking of autumn, many children have probably gone sweet potato digging.
Let’s make those delicious sweet potatoes as a collage.
If you fold the corners of origami paper in half along the diagonal, you can create sweet potatoes in various shapes.
Use colorful colors like purple, brown, and red, then stick them onto a backing sheet and draw the vines with crayons.
Tear green origami paper to make the leaves.
It would be fun to make lots of sweet potatoes and turn an entire wall into a sweet potato field.
Be sure to give it a try!
A bagworm that breaks in three folds
Bagworms go perfectly with autumn foliage, don’t they? Their curious shape tends to fascinate many children.
Making a bagworm out of origami is easy.
Fold a sheet of origami paper into a triangle with a slight offset, then fold both ends inward.
Flip it over, and start sticking on thin, torn strips of paper to form the bagworm’s “bag.” The colors you choose and how much you use will create all kinds of different bagworms.
A colorful bagworm could be fun, too.
Give it a try!