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By Laura Drinan
Hometown Weekly Reporter
How is it that dozens of animals, shapes, and everyday objects could be constructed with just one piece of paper?
The Dover Town Library’s “Crafternoon” gave visitors the opportunity to learn the Japanese art of paper folding, origami, to create a wealth of paper creations. The Community Room at the library welcomed visitors from 3 to 4:30 in the afternoon on August 9 to practice their folding techniques.
Eight-year-old Derek (left) creates an origami frog with library volunteer, Kevin (center), and four-year-old Alex (right). Photos by Laura Drinan
Weekly library volunteer, fourteen-year-old Kevin of Dover, assisted both children and adults in following the step-by-step directions to make paper foxes, cats, dogs, cups, and balloons. One of the favorite origami creations was the jumping frog. Kevin mastered the frog by the end of the event, and helped to show the children how to make their own. Along with various colors of square paper, the library also provided markers for the origami creators to decorate their work.
The inspiration for each origami figure came from step-by-step instructions, which showed how and where one should fold the paper. The library also brought one of their books about origami to the event, which gave a brief history about origami and more directions to create things like stars that could be strung together to create a chain, boxes with hidden compartments, and even a dragon folded from a dollar bill. Although all who attended the event appeared to be origami beginners, the book provided the children with motivation to master the art of paper folding.
Step-by-step instructions help the origami creators successfully make a variety of animals out of a simple piece of paper. Photos by Laura Drinan
It isn’t as easy as it looks, though.
The classic paper crane seemed to stump many of the children and adults who tried it. However, there was no frustration or anger at the event. When someone’s origami creation didn’t quite turn out like the picture in the directions, they just laughed over it and tried to modify it or began with a new piece of paper.
The beautiful and precise art of origami attracted many to the library as the Community Room filled up with feelings of peacefulness and deep concentration. Adults and children went home, not only with 3D paper creations, but with a new appreciation for the thousands of ways a simple piece of paper can be transformed.
