Origami Through Stories: A Paper Crane

Hello Everyone,

I'm so excited to share this with you all! This story has an ambitious goal: read a story and learn to fold a paper crane.

I've included diagrams to help you and your young learner along the way.

All you'll need is a square piece of paper. (If you only have rectangular paper, click here.)

I've taught hundreds of people how to make cranes, and from experience, I can tell you that your first crane will look a little rough. That's totally normal when you're learning the folds. Keep trying, they'll get more beautiful, I promise!

I got all the wonderful diagrams from origami.me/crane This is the best tutorial I found after much searching. If you’re having trouble with any steps go to this tutorial, he has more diagrams and even videos.

Please post pictures of your crane and tag us! I want to see them!

In the Kingdom of Gami-Gami, Paper was taking a morning walk through the royal gardens. "What a perfect, calm morning," he said, remembering his past adventures - becoming a cup for Queen Lazy-Legs, flying as a paper airplane for Princess I-Can't-Even. "Nothing can stop me now!"

Suddenly, a playful breeze swept through the garden.

"WHOOSH!"

"WAAAaaahhh!" Paper tumbled through the air and SPLASH! He landed right next to a frog on a lily pad.

"I can't stand this wind!" Paper grumbled, dripping wet. "How do you stay so still when it tries to push you around?"

"I make myself low and wide," the frog ribbited calmly. "Like this!"

Paper looked at how big and floppy he was. Maybe if he was smaller, the wind wouldn't bother him so much. Paper folded himself into a triangle, just like the frog showed him. crease

"WHOOSH!" The wind came back! Paper barely hung on to the lily pad.

"I need to get even smaller!" Paper folded himself into an even tinier triangle. crease

But Paper wasn't small enough. Another gust came and lifted him into the air.

"Wahhh! I have to become as small as I can!" Paper shouted as he smushed his two triangles down into squares. crease

(Do this squash fold on both sides)

Now that he was smaller, Paper thought he had won. But the wind swept him up once more, this time landing him gently in a patch of flowers. The flowers swayed back and forth, some still buds, others in full bloom, all dancing with the breeze that Paper had been fighting.

"How can you be so happy when the wind pushes you around?" Paper asked.

"The wind doesn't push us," the flowers giggled. "It dances with us. But first, we must prepare to bloom."

A young flower bud showed Paper how it grew. "First, we gather ourselves inward." Paper folded his corners to the middle. crease

And fold back out, the flower gently instructed.

(Do these folds on the left side as well, and on the left and right sides in the back.)

"Then we tuck ourselves down, getting ready," the bud continued. Paper folded his top triangle down. crease

And back up.

"And finally," the flower said, starting to open, "we use these folds to help us bloom!" Paper felt the creases guide him as his bottom lifted up toward the top. crease.

(Repeat the last three steps on the backside as well)

Paper stood proudly with his petals reaching toward the sky, his bottom triangles planted firmly like roots. "Maybe this is who I'm meant to be," he thought.

But just then, the strongest wind yet came "WHOOSH!" and lifted Paper high into the air.

"Not again!" Paper cried. But something felt different this time. The wind wasn't throwing him - it was carrying him. He landed softly... on the back of a soaring crane!

"Welcome!" said the crane, gliding through the clouds. "I see you've learned from the frog and the flowers."

"Yes, but I still can't control myself in the wind," Paper sighed. "You make it look so easy!"

"That's because I keep my center strong," the crane explained. "Here, tuck in your middle folds, like this."

Paper folded the middle of his left and right sides, front and back, making himself more firm. crease

(Repeat this fold on the left side and also on the right and left sides on the back)

"Now you're ready for your final transformation," the crane said. "Let your roots become something more - they can be your head and tail!"

"But how?" Paper asked.

"The same wind that you've been fighting will show you the way," the crane said. "It's been trying to teach you all along. Trust it."

Paper felt the wind gently lifting his bottom points. Slowly, one point reached up to become a graceful neck, while the other stretched back into a tail. crease

(open up the side and fold the bottom part up the reverse way, this is called a reverse fold. Repeat this on the other side.)

"Perfect!" said the crane. "Now for your head - fold this side down, like a bird bowing gracefully."

Paper followed the crane's instructions, folding one side down. crease

(Open up the side and make a reverse fold, just like you did for the neck and tail, to create the head)

"And now," the crane said with excitement, "fold your wings down, ready for flight!"

Paper folded his sides down into wings. crease

Suddenly, Paper felt complete. He wasn't just shaped like a crane. He WAS a crane! The wind that had once tossed him around now lifted him gently into the air. "Thank you!" Paper called to his crane teacher, but the crane had already soared away.

Paper spread his new wings and caught the wind. He flew higher and higher until he spotted someone sitting peacefully atop the highest mountain in Gami-Gami Kingdom. It was his teacher, Aura! He was sitting with his legs crossed and a soft halo around his head.

Paper landed softly beside his wise master and told him everything, about the frog who taught him to be small, the flower who showed him how to bloom, and the crane who helped him find his wings.

"But most of all," Paper said, "I learned that what I thought was my enemy, the wind, was my greatest teacher all along."

Aura smiled. "Life doesn’t happen to us. Life happens for us"

Paper nodded, looking out over the beautiful kingdom where the wind danced with everything it touched. "Whenever anyone folds paper," he said thoughtfully, "I hope they'll remember this land where I learned to dance with the wind. In honor of you, Aura, and this magical place, Gami-Gami, I'll call it... Origami."

The End