Let your fingers do the folding!

I love origami. I was first introduced to the art as a little girl when my mom taught me how to make cranes. My favorite part was blowing into the paper to puff up the body.

My oldest son was taught by Japanese teachers from the age of 3 to 8 years. He used to make hundreds of cranes, tulips, frogs, balls, hats, kimono, etc. I loved them so much that I saved them all, stored them loosely in large plastic bins and moved them from Chicago to RI. I decided these little pieces of art needed to be showcased, so I purchased some shadow boxes, chose a variety of pieces and displayed them on his walls.

How cool is this? I found this website that is essentially origami on steroids. Foldschool is a collection of free cardboard furniture for kids, that you (and your kids) can make. There are downloadable patterns that you can print from your computer. You can make a stool, chair, or rocker. Foldschool is the brainchild of architect and designer Nicola Enrico Staubi.

This would have been so helpful to me when I had to make a cardboard chair in design school.