10 benefits of origami in children
Origami exercises in children help to activate the right hemisphere of the brain, it has much more!
Origami is not just a hobby that consists of folding the paper in a certain way to create figures. It is proven that origami exercises in children help activate the right hemisphere of the brain, responsible for creativity and artistic sense . In addition, it relaxes and calms, encourages imagination and activates memory, and helps develop manual skills and psychomotor skills . Origami, gives children a tool to achieve greater concentration, imagination, creativity, as well as stimulate their ability to concentrate, artistic sense and sensitivity. All this with the help of paper, hands and imagination.
1. It is more than a game, it stimulates the child’s development
Origami is the set of manual techniques that will result in the realization of figures, with a single condition, by means of certain folds in a paper without making cuts or using glue. Pedagogues point out that the practice of origami from an early age stimulates the development of artistic and intellectual abilities in children . From the simplest to the most complete exercises, origami, as well as other similar craft techniques such as origami, can become a universe of symbols and expressions for children. Origami is an excellent educational resource to put the brain to work.
And it is that only a piece of paper is necessary , because since there are countless techniques with different types of complexity and the fact of any of them has a simple basis, it allows anyone to start practicing without the need for prior knowledge. Therefore, ideal for children of any age and without having to have previous artistic skills .
2. Stimulates imagination and develops creativity
Although certain guidelines have to be followed to arrive at the figure we are looking for, there are a multitude of variables that we can apply before or after the process, such as the size of the paper, the type of paper used or the color, as well as letting it fly our imagination and decorate the figure made once the process is finished . Another way to help creativity is to play with the figures once they are made or create our own designs.
Origami also enhances the ability to visualize and imagine the result when we only start from a piece of paper. It stimulates innovation and coordination between the real and the abstract , and encourages the search for new objects and figures to make, increasing the level of difficulty, and therefore personal satisfaction.
3. Promotes psychomotor skills
Origami exercises through the certain designs and intricate folds that the paper needs to obtain the desired figure allow to exercise fine motor skills . This motor skills is focused on awakening in the child his capacity for precision and firmness when carrying out a specific activity. Origami develops manual dexterity and eye-hand coordination. In children in whom writing has not yet been established, origami exercises stimulate and exercise the muscles and nerves that will be necessary later.
4. Helps in visual and mental concentration
This type of exercise develops visual and mental concentration in the child, who has to be at all times visualizing in his mind the next step to follow, as well as the result he wants to achieve . It helps to understand spatial concepts such as in front, behind, up or down, and the visualization in three dimensions. It favors the stimulation of logical reasoning.
5. Strengthens memory and develops attention
This type of exercise, which requires following a certain pattern and established guidelines, improves memory in children, as they need to keep track of which folds they have made, and what the next step is. Skipping a fold or doing it without enough concentration will ruin the entire result, even if the rest of the folds are correct. It is proven that origami or origami is a very beneficial activity in cases of children with attention deficit or hyperactivity .
6. Encourage patience and mental effort
For the result to be perfect, you must work with precision, making exact folds and with care to avoid spoiling the work. With this hobby, the child learns that it will take several attempts to obtain a desired result , that many times things do not work out the first time and that even mistakes are learned.
7. Promotes relaxation
For this it is recommended that while doing origami the work table is clear and clean . It is a relaxing pastime that allows the child to escape from other situations or problems, having to put all his attention on his work.
8. Encourage work and perseverance
These types of activities promote discipline in children in an indirect way. Origami requires an order and a certain logic . By following the steps to obtain the desired figure, the child learns to follow instructions and to respect them. Discipline also helps children develop important values at work, such as perseverance and patience.
Learning and the cognitive process are favored in decision-making, since it is necessary to avoid repeating a failed step, since each wrong fold or neglect will influence the final form. And of course, it encourages perseverance, since the figures do not turn out well the first time, and only through effort will we obtain the desired result. For many pedagogues, achieving the desired figure through effort stimulates the child’s satisfaction and the message that with work the desired results are obtained .
9. Help in learning mathematics
Believe it or not, paprioflexia is closely related to mathematics . Many of the paper shapes are formed from basic geometric shapes . And it has been shown that it can help to some extent in the understanding of mathematics through geometry, since many of the academic concepts of this subject are abstract and creating a paper figure that the child can touch and manipulate helps to establish that knowledge.
10. Develop artistic sensitivity
Origami and origami are considered ancient artistic techniques. And you can make real works of art with just a piece of paper, in some really complex figures, especially in the case of animals and flowers.
Dr. Tabriella Perivolaris, Sara's mother and fan of fashion, beauty, motherhood, among others, about the female universe. Since 2018 she has been working as a copywriter, always bringing to her articles a little of her experience and experience as a mother and woman.