Today’s Mindfulness Monday activity is origami. I give each student a sheet of square origami paper and play a YouTube video of instructions for folding an origami fortune teller. Here is the link to the video I use :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CODnVX7VAZ8

In the past, I have found that most students are already familiar with origami so they get right to the activity and finish quickly with a sense of pride. Others struggle with the activity and get frustrated, so I share the story of my early experiences of origami with them. When I first tried origami, I would not be able to follow the video and my origami-friendly students had to help me fold my paper into something recognizable. Now I circulate the room during the activity to help the students who struggle the way I did and I always have a few ready made examples to give to them if their paper loses its integrity from overuse.

My favorite origami story is of a teacher who read Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes with her ELL class. After reading the story, the students made enough origami cranes to fill an entire wall of their classroom. The students were so proud when visitors to the classroom would comment on the beautiful wall of paper cranes.

What is your experience with origami? Have you tried it as an activity in your classroom?