[For Seniors] Introducing May-themed Origami!
Origami is a popular recreational activity in senior care facilities.
Finger exercises are effective for stimulating the brain, and displaying completed pieces or feeling a sense of accomplishment adds to the enjoyment.
May is a month filled with events, such as Children’s Day and Mother’s Day.
So this time, we’ll introduce origami with a May theme.
Origami that activates both the fingers and the brain while feeling the season—and offers a sense of achievement—can be considered an ideal recreation for older adults.
By all means, try making May-themed origami together with the older adults around you.
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- Simple origami that can be folded from a single sheet
[For Seniors] Introducing Origami Related to May! (11–20)
carnation
May has Mother’s Day, doesn’t it? Speaking of Mother’s Day, carnations are the classic gift.
So as a May origami idea, here’s how to make a carnation.
First, make a “zabuton” fold to crease the paper, then open it and fold each of the four corners inward along the creases.
Flip the paper over, fold it in half vertically, then fold the left and right corners up to meet the top corner; repeat the same fold once more.
Open the paper—you’ll see radial creases.
Add creases to fill in the gaps between them, then press the center downward with a stick or similar tool to shape it into a flower, and you’re done! It looks lovely as-is on a wall display, and if you want to make a bouquet, create the receptacle, stem, and leaves from green origami paper and attach them.
Sumire
Violets are purple flowers that you see in spring—they have a sense of Japanese tradition and also a cool image, don’t they? How about making violet flowers out of origami and using them to decorate a wall? Cut the origami paper into small rectangles, then cut those into petal shapes.
Add curves to each piece, layer them to form the whole flower, and then attach the stem and leaf parts to complete it.
The way you angle the pieces to show how the flower grows might also be important.
clover
Here’s how to make an easy and cute clover.
A craft punch that cuts paper into heart shapes makes it go faster, but you can use scissors too.
Prepare two sheets of green paper—one dark and one light—and cut out heart shapes.
Layer the leaves with a piece of wire sandwiched between them, and glue them together.
Make several of these.
Bend the leaves, bundle them, and wrap them with green floral tape to form three-leaf or four-leaf clovers.
Pour pebbles or beads into a small container and insert the clovers to enjoy them like houseplants.
Since it’s safe to make, it’s also recommended as a recreation activity in senior facilities.
lily of the valley
Lily of the valley blooms around April to May and is strongly associated with heralding the arrival of spring.
In this project, we’ll recreate this quintessential spring flower with origami, making the bell-shaped blossoms in three dimensions.
First, cut white origami paper into a flat shape like spread petals, then attach it to a long, rolled stem piece.
From there, overlap and adjust each petal to form the bell shape.
Once the flower components are complete, attach them to a backing sheet decorated with leaves and other parts to finish.
Aim for a design where the flowers appear to pop out.
Tulip wreath
Tulips are one of the flowers that color the spring season, and their rich variety of hues conveys the excitement of spring.
This is a wreath that captures that springtime joy by arranging colorful tulips on a circular base.
It’s recommended to make the wreath base in green to evoke leaves; create triangular pieces and insert adjacent pieces into the gaps to form a circle.
Then just add tulips and other decorations to the base to finish.
To make the tulips really stand out, it’s important to use folds to give them a three-dimensional look.
Iris
Let’s fold an iris flower with origami.
For the flower part, use 7.5 cm origami paper.
First, fold the paper into a triangle, then fold the left and right corners up to the top corner to make crease lines and open it back up.
Next, fold the lower left and right edges up along the diagonal creases you just made, then open them again.
Using the two diagonal crease lines, open the left and right corners and squash-fold them, then flip the paper over.
Fold down only the top layer of the top corner, then fold it back up so that it sits slightly above the previous crease.
Make a cut about 1 cm from the top corner of the folded-back section, and fold the two split tips diagonally downward to complete the flower.
Finally, make the stem and leaves by accordion-folding a strip of origami paper, and attach them to the flower.
Your iris is complete!
[For Seniors] Introducing May-Themed Origami! (21–30)
Parallel arrangement of tulips
When you think of spring flowers, many people probably picture tulips.
This time, we’re introducing a three-dimensional tulip craft.
Three-dimensional origami may sound difficult, but there aren’t many intricate steps, so it might actually be easy for many older adults to make.
Folding these cute tulips could also spark lively conversation among seniors and those around them.
By the way, a “parallel arrangement” is a style of floral design where plants are placed upright in parallel, evoking the image of them standing in a row.
