1000 Origami Cranes

Japan is going through one of its worst natural disasters and its worst man-made disaster since WWII.  Many people are reaching out to help, and many children are asking what they can do to help.  In addition to donating to the relief organizations which are already helping Japan, I suggest that you teach your children the legend of the origami cranes, and help them make cranes to symbolize their wish that the Japanese recover and rebuild.  I have quoted below from the Wikipedia article, and would also like to suggest that you read Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, by Eleanor Coerr.  The directions for folding the Origami Cranes is from Robyn Hondow's beautiful site, Origami-Fun.

"Thousand Origami Cranes (千羽鶴, Senbazuru^?) is a group of one thousand origami paper cranes held together by strings. An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by a crane, such as long life or recovery from illness or injury. The crane in Japan is one of the mystical or holy creatures (others include the dragon and the tortoise), and is said to live for a thousand years. In Japan, it is commonly said that folding 1000 paper origami cranes makes a person's wish come true. This makes them popular gifts for special friends and family." --Wikipedia

Diagram Instructions

For a printable .pdf version of the crane instructions, click here.
You will need Adobe Reader installed on your computer in order to open the .pdf file. You can get Adobe Reader here

1. Start with a square piece of paper, coloured side up.

Fold the top corner of the paper down to the bottom corner. Crease and open again. Then fold the paper in half sideways.

2. Turn the paper over to the white side.

Fold the paper in half, crease well and open, and then fold again in the other direction.

 

3. Using the creases you have made, Bring the top 3 corners of the model down to the bottom corner. Flatten model.

 

4. Fold top triangular flaps into the centre and unfold 5. Fold top of model downwards, crease well and unfold

 

6. Open the uppermost flap of the model, bringing it upwards and pressing the sides of the model inwards at the same time.

Flatten down, creasing well.

 

7. Turn model over and repeat Steps 4-6 on the other side. 8. Fold top flaps into the centre.

 

9. Repeat on other side, so your model looks like this. 10. Fold both ‘legs’ of model up, crease very well, then unfold.

 

11. Inside Reverse Fold the “legs” along the creases you just made. 12. Inside Reverse Fold one side to make a head, then fold down the wings

 

Finished Crane!

This original description and demonstration of folding an origami crane was done by Robyn Hondow.  There is a video of the directions on her website: http://www.origami-fun.com/origami-crane.html.