Origami and Education:
Besides its connection to Japanese culture and heritage, origami is also beneficial for reasons of health and education. Because of the required exactness of the folding, origami first and foremost improves manual dexterity and motor coordination. Following each of the steps in the origami patters in useful in helping people attain the ability to both give and receive complex instructions in an accurate manner. Another positive aspect of origami is the visualization that it requires; to complete an origami figure, one must visualize the figure in three-dimensions, which will thus improve their geometric visualization. In order to reproduce previously created figure, origami also helps develop a person’ s memory skills. The experience of completing the origami figure with use of memory, visualization, and step-following also provides a sense of accomplishment.
The use of folding and visualization in making the origami figures creates a connection between origami and math. Folding origami is an excellent introduction for students learning geometry. The best exercise to show introduction the relationship between math and origami is to try folding an origami object and then unfold it. Through this process, an array of shapes and angles can be seen on the unfolded paper. The components of this relationship, added together with the other personal benefits, make origami an enjoyable and educational activity.
Resource: http:// library. thinkquest. org / 27458 / nf / origami / history. html
4