Lovely childcare

It moves! You can play with it! Fun origami. How to make origami toys.

20 years of experience as a nursery teacher / kindergarten teacherhiyoko sensei
I’m Hiyoko-sensei, a former nursery school teacher from Hyogo Prefecture. Ever since I was five, my dream was to become a childcare worker, and before I knew it, 20 years had passed since I achieved that dream. Through singing and playing with the children, I kept working with the spirit of someone in their twenties, even as I increasingly felt my physical limits year by year (haha). From here on, I’d like to share helpful information carefully and thoughtfully, drawing on my on-site experience.

Origami is one of those essential activities in early childhood care: it helps develop children’s dexterity and concentration, and lets them experience the joy and sense of achievement that comes from completing a project.

This time, we’ll show you how to make moving toys using origami.

We’re focusing on toys you can make using only origami paper, so there’s very little to prepare—another nice bonus.

You’ll find lots of origami toys with unique, kid-pleasing movements that will spark their curiosity and keep them fully engaged.

Pick the ones that catch your eye, make them, and have fun playing with them!

It moves! You can play with it! Fun origami. How to make origami toys (41–50)

Wiggly snake

[Easy Origami] How to Fold a Wiggly Snake | Origami: How to Make a Paper Snake | Playable Craft DIY | Origami

Wiggly snake

Let’s make a wiggly, stretchable, and bendable snake out of origami! Prepare 30 or more sheets of origami paper—use as many as you like.

The more pieces you connect, the more impressive your snake will be! There are a lot of repetitive folding steps, but the folds themselves are simple, so it should be fun to make.

Without using glue, you’ll connect the pieces by tucking the folded parts into each other and stacking them.

Make parts in various colors and assemble them in any order you like.

Once it’s finished, try stretching it out, twisting it into a circle, or shaping it however you want and have fun playing with it!

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Rocket

[Origami] How to Fold a Rocket You Can Fly and Play With – Easy! Origami / fukuoriroom

Rocket

As an origami toy that makes you want to play with friends, rockets are also recommended.

This idea involves folding origami into a cone-like shape to recreate a rocket.

You can display it as is or glue it onto construction paper, but there’s a special way to play with it that I’d like to share.

First, prepare a bendable straw and insert the drinking end into the rocket.

Then blow, and the rocket will lift off.

It’s fun to compete with your friends to see whose rocket can fly the highest.

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Falling pinwheel

Action Origami 'Easy! Falling Pinwheel'

Falling pinwheel

Let me introduce a pinwheel that spins as it drops.

First, fold the paper in half, open it, and squash-fold it into a triangle.

Fold with the triangular section as the center.

For the spinning blades, open the four folded corners out to 90 degrees.

This is the key point.

Finally, adjust them so they are precisely at right angles.

Once finished, you’ll have a pinwheel that falls while spinning.

If you make it with different colors of origami paper, it becomes a colorful pinwheel and is really fun! Please give it a try.

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chatterbox crow

How to make and play with an origami chatterbox crow! A simple and cute animal

chatterbox crow

Introducing a chattering crow with a mouth that opens and closes.

The key step is to make a cross fold toward the crease lines, open it up, and pull out just one corner to fold.

Once you’re done, draw eyes with a pen or add stickers, and your chattering crow is complete.

Pinch the sides next to the crow’s face and move them left and right to make its mouth open and close.

If the mouth doesn’t open well, try pinching a spot closer to the mouth, and it will transform into a very talkative crow! It’s also fun to play by chatting with the crow or pretending to feed it.

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twirling whistle

[1st Kurukuru Whistle] Make and play together as parent and child! Easy craft!

twirling whistle

Let’s make a twirly whistle that spins back when you blow it! Prepare one straw, a rectangular sheet of paper measuring 8 cm × 17 cm, cellophane tape, and masking tape.

Place the rectangle with the long side at the bottom.

Leave about 1 cm at the top, then fold up from the bottom.

Next, flip the part you left open to the bottom so it overlaps, and finally leave 1 cm at the end and secure everything with cellophane tape.

Turn the paper over and draw any picture you like! Cut the straw in half, insert the cut straw into the 1 cm opening you left earlier, fold both ends, secure with cellophane tape, and add masking tape on top to make it cute.

Finally, curl it up using a pen or pencil, and it’s done.

Please be careful when using the straw!

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