Program: Origami Creations

It feels like forever since I planned my May program! I remember that I discovered it was Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, so I wanted to do something that tied in. I hadn't done a true origami program yet (though we've included origami in a number of programs) and it seemed like the perfect simple program for the month when we'd be getting ready for the craziness of summer to begin.

I don't have a whole lot to say about the program - it was incredibly easy to run. The biggest snag I ran into was the number of attendees - I normally top out around 20, but this program ended up with 35! I always wait a few minutes past the start time for stragglers to arrive - I don't want anyone to feel like they've missed anything. So, I waited as usual. It seemed like I had about the right size group after 5 minutes or so, so I went ahead and got started. But they just kept coming! Kids kept showing up during the program, so I had to explain a number of times that I was in the middle of teaching one project, so they'd have to wait until I was finished to join in. Meanwhile, they could try out some designs on their own (I had books set up on a side table). Since I hadn't expected quite so many kids, I didn't have any teen volunteers helping, so about halfway through the program, I ran out to fetch the teen librarian, who is pretty good at origami and offered to help if I needed her.

I decided to teach the kids two different projects - they could do either or both, or neither if they just wanted to try some stuff on their own. I had a couple kids who chose that last option, but most of them wanted to learn the two different projects. After I finished showing everyone the two projects, I made myself available to teach them to any latecomers, or help anyone who hadn't quite gotten it the first time around. Most everyone left with at least three creations and they all seemed to have had fun. I will definitely have another origami program in the future - but with some extra help this time!

The two projects we did:

Heart with wings: like this one here, though I found a Youtube video when I was first searching.

Box: we did not make lids for our boxes, which disappointed some kids, but they simply made two and squished them together instead. I used these instructions, but I've seen some slightly different ones out there as well.