Young children love talking about their families and this simple origami house craft is a fabulous tool for inviting conversation about families and how they are unique.
The origami house is simple to make, requiring just five folds, but children will often require assistance with making the folds. Be guided by the age and fine motor skills of the child to determine how much support they need.
How to Fold an Origami House
You will need:
- One sheet of paper for each house
- Marker pens
To make:
- Start with the paper in a portrait position. Fold the top of the paper all the way down to the bottom edge, creasing across the middle.
- Fold each side into the middle so that each of the outside edges is in line with the center of the paper. Make sure you have a really good crease on each side.
- Finally, you will need to make two squash folds to form the roof section of the house. Start on one side, opening the flap formed in step 2. Make a triangle shape by aligning the crease down the center of the triangle with the crease underneath. Smooth down and crease firmly. Repeat on the other side.
Now your origami house is ready to decorate.
In our example, Miss 5 decorated the roof section of the house and added a big front door and some windows.
Then she opened up the door and drew each of her family members inside, talking about the people in her family as she drew.
Talking About Families
If you are working in a group setting, invite the children to sit together and talk about who they have drawn inside their house. Being mindful of the diverse make-ups of families in our modern society, invite discussion by asking your child or children:
- Are all families the same?
- Can some people be part of your family and not live in your home?
- When you think about your family, does this also mean your pets?
- Where does your family live?
- Do all families live in houses?
- How are families different to friends?
Families Thematic Mini-Unit
For more fun family activities check out our Families Thematic Mini-Unit. It is packed with activities that explore families, printable hands-on activities and so much more. Find it here!
Contributing Author:
Christie Burnett is the teacher, author, and blogger behind the playful online space known as Childhood 101. Christie’s passion for play and creativity led her to start her award-winning blog shortly after the birth of her first daughter. Nowadays she can typically be found juggling the demands of family life with time tapping away at her keyboard, at least when she hasn’t just dropped it all to join her daughters in whatever their latest game or project might be! Connect with Christie on her blog or via Facebook.
Amy Fellows says
Thank you! I often post origami challenges for the after-school crowd we get in my public library branch, and I created a small poster with your instructions and the discussion questions for caregivers that I’m putting out this afternoon 🙂
Donna says
These look great origami ideas simple to help grandmums with the grandees