[Childcare] Make it in April! Recommended easy origami folds
In April, when the new school year begins, children at daycare and kindergarten start life in a new environment, and some may feel nervous or even cry.
So this time, we’re sharing origami ideas perfect for April that will bring smiles to their faces.
There are plenty of motifs that capture the warmth of spring—flowers and insects, of course, as well as fruits and animals associated with Easter! Find something you’d love to make with the children and give it a try.
If you display their creations on the wall, you can enjoy spring indoors, too! Surrounded by a springtime atmosphere, we hope you can start a wonderful year with warm, cheerful feelings.
- [Childcare] Simple origami ideas for kids, perfect for spring
- [Origami] Easy spring-themed origami ideas to enjoy with 4-year-olds
- [For Age 3] Let’s make it in April! A collection of craft ideas to feel spring events and nature
- [For preschoolers] A collection of origami ideas to enjoy February, including Setsubun and Valentine’s Day
- Simple origami for kids: cute, playable origami ideas
- Recommended for preschoolers! A collection of origami ideas perfect for April
- Origami perfect for April! A collection of ideas recommended for preschoolers (around age 4–5)
- Origami ideas perfect for April that will captivate older kindergarteners!
- [For 4–5 year olds] A collection of recommended origami ideas for March—featuring seasonal events and natural motifs
- [April] Cute spring-themed classroom wall decoration ideas for early childhood education
- [Origami] Simple Origami Ideas to Feel the Spring with 3-Year-Olds
- [Origami] Simple Origami Folding Ideas to Savor Spring with 5-Year-Olds
- [Childcare] Let’s make things with various materials! A collection of recommended craft ideas for April
[Childcare] Make it in April! Recommended easy origami folding methods (61–70)
Perfect for pairing with potted origami too! Cute tulips
A tulip that looks cute displayed with a potted plant and can stand on its own.
For the flower, fold the origami into a triangle twice, then fold both sides up to meet the tip at the center to form the base of the flower.
Fold a petal from the center toward the lower right, then open it with your finger and make a squash fold so the petal puffs out.
When overlapping and folding the petals so they cross the center line, the key is to keep an eye on the overall balance.
For the leaves, cut toward the center line with scissors, leaving a narrow stem section, and insert the cut origami into the pocket area.
If you glue the stem section together, you’ll create a stronger stem.
After making squash folds on the leaves to shape them, attach the flower and leaves together to finish.
honeybee
Let’s make an adorable storybook-style honeybee out of origami! First, crease the diagonals on your paper, then fold all four corners in toward the center.
Next, fold the top and bottom corners to meet at the center, and fold the left and right sides to about half that size to form the body.
Make wings from white origami paper and glue them on, then draw the eyes and stripes to finish your bee! If you display it together with origami flowers or butterflies, you’ll really feel the arrival of spring.
It’s so cute that you might want to remind kids, “Real bees can sting, so be careful not to touch them.”
Tulip
This tulip is made with two sheets of origami paper.
Fold the paper into a triangle, then fold it into a smaller triangle and unfold once.
Fold both ends diagonally upward.
Turn it over and fold the corners on both sides inward to complete the tulip flower.
For the leaf part, after folding into a triangle, fold both side edges toward the crease, then fold it in half and fold one side up diagonally to finish! Have fun making it while sharing tips like, “It works well if you hold down the tip of the triangle as you fold!”
bamboo shoot
Let’s make bamboo shoots—one of the ingredients that come into season in spring—out of origami! First, crease the paper with a cross fold, then fold the edges toward the center line and unfold.
Fold the bottom edge up to the nearest crease, flip the paper over and rotate it upside down, then fold the bottom edge up to the topmost crease.
After that, continue folding to mimic the overlapping layers of the outer skins, and your origami bamboo shoot is complete.
For children who only know bamboo shoots from picture books or as pieces in their side dishes, making one with origami may help them better imagine what they look like in real life.
dandelion
Let’s make a dandelion, a flower that symbolizes spring, out of origami! Crease the diagonals on the paper, then fold all four corners toward the center.
Flip it over and fold the top and bottom edges toward the center, then open the triangular flaps outward and lay them flat.
Rotate the piece and fold the remaining two edges the same way.
Next, open up the square pocket in the center and shape it into a dandelion.
Combine it with a stem and leaves made from origami to complete the piece.
If folding together is difficult, another great option is to have students glue a teacher-made dandelion onto construction paper and freely draw a spring scene around it!
horsetail
Here’s an origami horsetail (tsukushi), a motif that evokes spring.
Use a sheet of origami paper cut into quarters to make the stem with a hakama (sheath) detail.
Next, take another piece of the same size, fold it in half vertically, and continue folding to form the tsukushi’s head.
Glue the head and stem pieces together, and your tsukushi is complete! The hakama in the middle of the stem makes a great accent.
This tutorial uses origami paper cut into small quarters, but if that’s hard to work with, you might find it easier to use a slightly larger piece of construction paper instead.
ladybug
This is an adorable, plump-looking origami ladybug.
Fold the origami paper into a triangle, then fold both ends toward the tip.
Leave the bottommost layer at the tip and fold the rest back, and tuck the corners you just lifted slightly to the back.
Flip it over and fold the corners inward so the whole shape becomes rounded—your ladybug is complete! You can draw the characteristic polka dots with a pen, but using round stickers makes it easier to create neat patterns.
Finish by drawing a cute face on the white part.