Finished origami finger puppet

STREAM Activity: Origami Finger Puppets

Fold, Create, Imagine!

Activity best for children ages five and up

Origami is the art of folding paper into amazing shapes, like animals and objects. It all started in Japan, where the word “origami” is the combination of two Japanese words: “ori” which means to fold, and “kami” which means paper. This traditional art has been used to tell stories and share history for hundreds of years.

Theater is another wonderful art form that tells stories where people get to perform and act out characters. For this activity, we’ll be using origami to make our very own finger puppets. These fun characters will help bring the magic of theater to life at home!

VOCABULARY

  • Origami: The art of folding paper into cool shapes, like animals, objects, or characters.

  • Theater: Where people get together to perform plays, tell stories, or act out characters.

GUIDING QUESTION

  • What other shapes or objects do you think we could make with origami?

  • Can you create a story with your finger puppet?

  • What other kinds of art forms can tell stories, like origami and theater does?

MATERIALS

  • Different colors of paper

  • Scissors

  • Markers

  • Ruler

DIRECTIONS

STEP 1

Cut out a 9 cm x 9 cm square and flip it into a diamond shape.

9cm x 9cm square

STEP 2

Fold the diamond in half to create a triangle.

Fold square into triangle

STEP 3

Fold each side of the triangle upwards to form a diamond shape once again.

Fold sides up

STEP 4

Flip your diamond around, to where the folded flaps face down. Fold each flap upwards to form ears!

Fold sides up to make ears

STEP 5

Fold the bottom half of the triangle upwards covering both ears. Peel back one side of the folded triangle to create an opening.

Make an opening in your origami

STEP 6

Inside the opening, you will securely fold in one of the triangles.

Fold the triangle inside

STEP 7

Fold what’s left of the triangle upwards. Pinch together the top half the triangles and fold downwards.

Secure folds with a tiny triangle fold down

STEP 8

Fantastic! You’ve just created your own origami puppet! Now flip your puppet over and decorate as you wish. You can even fold the ears to make different animals!

Draw faces on puppet