[Age 3] Simple summer origami ideas. A roundup of classic summer motifs.
Three-year-olds are getting better with their hands.
They’re starting to enjoy all kinds of origami, aren’t they? How about adults making some fun creations together with them? Here, we’ll introduce simple origami ideas perfect for summer, designed for three-year-olds.
There are lots of motifs kids love, like ice cream, bugs, and summer festival items.
We also recommend displaying the finished pieces or using them for pretend shop play.
Enjoy origami in different ways and make wonderful summer memories!
- Origami for 2-Year-Olds: Fun and Educational! Origami Ideas for Toddlers
- [For 3-year-olds] A fun collection of easy origami fish to make!
- 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
- [Childcare] A roundup of easy summer origami ideas to enjoy with 5-year-olds
- Origami perfect for summer. Fun and easy for kids to make!
- Fun July Craft Ideas for 2-Year-Olds: Summer Wall Decorations
- [For 3-year-olds] Easy-to-make origami rabbit ideas collection
- [For Preschoolers] Fold with Fun! January Origami Ideas for Little Ones
- [For 3-year-olds] Perfect for September! A Collection of Craft Ideas to Enjoy Autumn Nature
- Enjoy August with preschoolers using origami! A collection of summer-perfect ideas
- [Age 4] Easy origami ideas perfect for summer! A collection of cool, refreshing motifs
- [For 3-year-olds] A roundup of craft ideas to enjoy in summer! Introducing various motifs and techniques
- Toddlers will love it! Fun-to-make July origami recommendations
[Age 3] Easy summer origami ideas: A roundup of classic summer motifs (61–70)
beetle (specifically, a rhinoceros beetle)
When you think of a rhinoceros beetle, you might imagine a complex shape, but this is an origami design that looks like a beetle viewed from above.
The folding process isn’t too complicated, though you’ll need to use inside reverse folds a few times to form the horn.
Draw the eyes at the end and you’ll have an adorable beetle.
It would be fun to make other insects too and turn them into a wall decoration like an insect paradise.
Please give it a try.
Besides black, light brown or brown origami paper would also suit it well.
turtle ornament
I’ll show you how to make a cute turtle with slow movements and a friendly look.
First, fold the origami paper into a triangle, then fold the bottom two corners up toward the top point.
Turn the paper upside down, fold the loose flap upward, and then open the corner outward to flatten.
Next, make a small cut with scissors only on the top layer so that the lower triangle is split in half, and open each section outward the same way as the upper part.
Finally, fold both side corners toward the center, fold the head back, and then fold the whole piece in half to finish.
Try drawing the turtle’s shell pattern and face to play with it!
A cute turtle on a flat plane
We’ll show you how to make a cute flat turtle using origami.
Prepare one sheet of your favorite origami paper and let’s start folding.
For the parts where you inflate the paper as you fold it in, the key is to teach children slowly and carefully.
Once the flat turtle is finished, draw a face to give it a cute, original touch.
It’s also recommended to paste it onto a light blue background to evoke the ocean.
Be sure to have fun using crayons while imagining sea creatures!
Easily foldable turtle
Let’s introduce an origami turtle that 3-year-olds will be excited to fold.
After folding the paper into a triangle twice, fold the loose triangular flaps upward on both the left and right.
Rotate the paper, then make cuts with scissors—this step is key.
Be careful to cut only one layer! You can also adjust the width of the body to your liking.
By making crisp creases when folding the legs and head, you’ll end up with a cool-looking turtle.
Drawing eyes can add a nice expression, too.
Orihime and Hikoboshi
July 7th is Tanabata.
It’s said that Orihime and Hikoboshi can meet once a year.
This time, let’s make Orihime and Hikoboshi using a paper plate and origami.
Fold each character with origami.
The key is to crease firmly, as if ironing along each fold line.
The kimono sections can get thick and may require a bit of strength, so encourage careful, slow folding.
Cut the rim of the paper plate, wrap it with black tape, and attach stars to complete the Tanabata night sky.
Then stick Orihime and Hikoboshi onto the paper plate to create a fun Tanabata decoration.
Shell ornament
How about making origami shell decorations for Tanabata? They’re easy to make: you only fold for the first half, and after that you cut evenly spaced slits.
Open it up, align the corners along the diagonal, glue them together, and you’re done.
The slits look like a spiral shell and it’s very pretty.
If you cut the origami into quarter-size pieces first, you can make cute little shells, and linking those shells together is adorable too.
Used as Tanabata decorations, they might evoke the image of shells living in the Milky Way.
goldfish
Let’s try folding a goldfish with origami.
Origami goldfish look colorful when made in various colors, and they give a very cool, refreshing impression.
As for how to fold this goldfish, the steps are the same as the origami samurai helmet up to a certain point.
Flatten the helmet sideways and fold back the tail section, and a goldfish will appear.
The horn parts of the helmet become the goldfish’s fins.
If you put lots of colorful goldfish in a glass bowl or add paper that resembles aquatic plants, it will look even more refreshing.
Try getting creative and see what you can make.