[Origami] Simple Origami Ideas to Feel the Spring with 3-Year-Olds
How about incorporating origami into a spring craft project for three-year-olds?
Around age three, children’s vocabulary grows, and more of them start showing interest in colors and shapes.
We’ve gathered plenty of spring-themed origami ideas that are perfect for three-year-olds.
There aren’t many folding steps, and the instructions are simple, so even children who aren’t used to origami can enjoy folding!
In addition to folding, there are also ideas that involve cutting with scissors.
We’re introducing lots of spring motifs that kids will be eager to make, so please use them for inspiration.
Because we regard what the children create as “artworks,” we use the term “seisaku (制作)” in the main text.
- [For 3-year-olds] Let’s make strawberries with origami! A collection of easy strawberry folding ideas
- [For Age 3] Let’s make it in April! A collection of craft ideas to feel spring events and nature
- Origami Butterfly Ideas That Are Easy for 3-Year-Olds
- [Origami] Easy spring-themed origami ideas to enjoy with 4-year-olds
- [For 3-year-olds] Easy-to-make origami rabbit ideas collection
- For three-year-olds: A collection of craft ideas featuring spring events and creatures that you’ll want to make with your three-year-old
- Perfect for first-timers! A collection of origami that’s super popular with kids as young as three!
- [For 4–5 year olds] A collection of recommended origami ideas for March—featuring seasonal events and natural motifs
- [Origami] Simple Origami Folding Ideas to Savor Spring with 5-Year-Olds
- [For 3-year-olds] A fun collection of easy origami fish to make!
- [For 4-year-olds] Let's fold! A collection of simple rabbit origami ideas
- [April] Spring Origami for Kids: A Collection of Simple and Cute Ideas
- [For Preschoolers] Fold with Fun! January Origami Ideas for Little Ones
[Origami] A collection of simple origami ideas to feel spring with 3-year-olds (111–120)
A butterfly you can clip into a notebook
It’s great that it can also be used as a bookmark for picture books! Here’s an idea for a butterfly that clips onto your notebook.
This clip-on butterfly is a cute item that’s perfect for picture books and notebooks.
You can make it with origami in your favorite colors and patterns, so both the crafting process and using it as a bookmark are sure to be exciting! It’s especially handy when you’re using picture books or notebooks with lots of pages.
It will lift your spirits when you open your notebook or book, so give it a try!
medaka (Japanese rice fish)
Let’s make it with your favorite color of origami! Here are some cute medaka (Japanese ricefish) ideas.
All you need are 7.5 cm square origami paper, a black pen, and black round stickers.
The medaka is a Japanese freshwater fish—small, cute, and easy to love.
Using 7.5 cm square origami, let’s create an adorable medaka.
Making and playing together with parents, teachers, or friends is a great way to cooperate and enjoy time together.
It’s also fun to change the color of the origami to create and display medaka with lots of personality.
Plump, rolled-up strawberry
Three-dimensional and fun! Here’s an idea for making plump, rolled strawberries.
You’ll need red origami or washi paper cut into half-circles, green paper cut into calyx (leaf-top) shapes, glue or double-sided tape, and a black crayon or pen.
It’s a great idea for when making flat strawberries feels boring.
Draw seed patterns on the half-circle paper, roll it into a cone, attach the calyx-shaped paper, and you’ve got a three-dimensional strawberry!
Square Strawberry
Perfect for early spring when children have just entered the 3-year-old class! Here’s a fun idea for making square strawberries.
You’ll need red or pink origami paper, green crayons or colored pencils, and black crayons or colored pencils.
Some children may feel intimidated by complicated origami folds.
First, let’s enjoy folding and playing with origami together with parents or teachers in a relaxed, fun way! This idea has few steps, is simple and easy to follow, and is great as a starting point for origami.
Give it a try together!
Rapeseed flowers made using many small origami pieces
Rape blossoms bloom in spring along flower beds and riverbanks.
If you look closely, each blossom forms a cluster.
You can recreate that feature with origami, too.
The method is simple: just fold the four corners of the paper toward the center and you’re done.
It’s easier if you first fold the paper in half, then in half again to make crease lines.
You can make just the flower portions, but try making lots of blossoms and adding stems and leaves.
When you decorate a wall with many rape blossoms, the whole surface takes on a springtime feel.
Butterfly made of two sheets of origami paper
Enjoy the fun of creating by combining parts! Here are some ideas for a butterfly made with two sheets of origami paper.
One of the charms of origami is that you can make wonderful creations with just a single sheet, but combining parts expands the range of expression, which is another interesting aspect.
This time, we’ll use two sheets of origami to make a butterfly.
The steps are the same up to a point, but there are stages where the folding directions differ between left and right.
Be careful as you work so that both sides don’t end up folded in the same direction!
Making a bento with origami
When the weather gets warmer, we tend to spend more time outdoors for things like field trips and picnics.
Time spent outside can be a special experience for children, different from life indoors.
One of the highlights of outings like field trips and picnics is the packed lunch, don’t you think? So here’s an introduction to making a bento using crumpled origami.
Use tissue paper to make rice balls (onigiri), and crumpled origami to make side dishes like fried chicken, broccoli, and rolled omelet.
Pack them into containers and colorful food cups sold at 100-yen shops, and your bento is complete.
A key tip is to tear black origami and stick it on as the seaweed for the onigiri.