Once you’re used to the easy Origami tutorials, it’s time to challenge yourself, and we’ve got the perfect project for it – an Origami Crab Craft for Kids!

You may have used paper to make simple paper crafts or to wrap a gift. But what if I told you that a single sheet of plain paper can hold over 10,000 times its own weight?

You’d think that was ridiculous – paper isn’t that strong! However, a 14-year-old just proved that paper can, indeed, hold several thousand times its own weight, and he did it with Origami!

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Origami and STEM

This amazing feat was achieved by Miles Wu when he won the Junior Innovators Challenge, a national science competition. He experimented with different folding methods and various kinds of paper and finally found a combination that worked. The fold he used is called the “Miura-Ori” fold, named after the Japanese scientist who discovered it, Koryo Miura.

Who knew that Origami and STEM would ever overlap? Well, Miles showed us that nothing’s impossible!

Miles has been practicing Origami since he was 8 and he has even raised money for charity by selling Origami pigeons. If you’ve been practicing some easy Origami projects and want to try something a little more challenging, check out our Origami Crab Craft for Kids!

Origami Crab Craft for Kids

Supplies required:

Colored craft paper
Scissors
Craft glue
Sharpies

How to make the Origami Crab Craft for Kids:

1. Select medium-weight craft paper for this craft. You can choose any color you like, preferably in shades of pink, red or orange. Cut out a square with sides of 15 cm.

2. Fold the square paper in half, vertically and horizontally. Unfold both folds.

3. Turn the paper to the other side and fold it in half diagonally, along both sides. Unfold both folds.

4. Make valley folds along the vertical and horizontal creases and mountain folds along the diagonal creases to form a waterbomb base.

5. Flatten the waterbomb base.

6. Hold the top-right diagonal side and fold it in by 45 degrees.

7. Similarly, fold in the other side.

8. Unfold the 2 sides.

9. Fold the same sides again, but this time in the opposite direction, inwards. You get two small pointy parts at the bottom, which are going to be the feet of our Origami crab craft for kids.

10. Turn the current pattern to the other side.

11. Fold the top corner in by 2 cm.

12. Fold the bottom-right corner up by 45 degrees.

13. Repeat the previous step on the opposite side. You’re done with the base of your Origami crab craft for kids.

14. Cut out 2 round shapes from white paper. Use a black Sharpie to draw eyes on the round shapes.

15. Glue the eyes to the origami pattern, between the claws, so that they pop up from the flat edge. Use a black Sharpie to draw a smile. Your Origami crab craft for kids is complete!

The wonderful thing about Origami is that there are many levels, and you don’t have to start at the advanced one if you don’t feel ready. You can begin with the easy projects and build up slowly. You can also experiment with different kinds of folds, and try mixing and matching to create new things. Who knows, maybe one day you’ll do your own Origami experiments and come up with something amazing, just like Miles Wu did!

If you’re looking for Origami crafts that are a little more challenging, try these projects: