Cute Origami Ladybug Craft for Kids
Here’s an Origami Ladybug Craft that’s just too cute for words! Find out how easy it is to turn a square piece of paper into an adorable ladybug!
It’s amazing how something tiny can hold a lot of power, isn’t it? Take the legend of the ladybug in Japanese folklore, for instance. In Japanese, the ladybug is called ‘tentou-mushi’, which can be translated as ‘sun bug’.
According to one Japanese legend, the ladybug’s spots are signs of the world’s sorrows that it carries on its back, so that the rest of the world may live in peace. That sounds like an immense burden for a small creature, but the story says that the ladybug does so cheerfully.
In many cultures, the ladybug is seen as a sign of good luck and prosperity, and killing it is discouraged. Well, we’re certainly not considering that! Instead, we’re going to create a ladybug today, using the famous Japanese folding technique, Origami!
Cute Origami Ladybug Craft for Kids
Supplies required:
- Colored craft paper
- Craft glue
- Googly eyes
- Black sharpie
- Pencil
How to make the Origami Ladybug Craft:
1. Cut out a square from craft paper in red or orange. Ladybugs are most commonly seen in orange and red, but some also appear in yellow or pink. You can choose any of these colors for your Origami ladybug craft.
2. Fold the square in half diagonally so you have a triangle with the open corner facing down.
3. Fold the left corner of the triangle to meet the right corner so you get a smaller triangle.
4. Unfold the last fold. You’re now back to the triangle in Step 2, with a crease inside.
5. Take the right corner of the triangle and fold it downward along the centre crease to meet the bottom corner.
6. Similarly, fold the left corner down along the center crease to meet the bottom corner. Your Origami ladybug craft now has a diamond shape with two flaps next to each other.
7. Take the bottom corner of the left flap and fold it in half to meet the top corner.
8. Repeat the step on the right side, folding the right flap in half. You still have the diamond shape, but now the top flaps are folded upward.
9. Take the bottom corner of the diamond and fold it upward, meeting the middle of the folded flaps.
10. Tuck the bottom corner inside the folded flaps as shown in the image below.
11. Turn the entire pattern of your Origami ladybug craft over so that the folds are now facing away from you. You have a shape with five sides, two long edges, two short edges and a base.
12. Fold the right short side inwards towards the central crease.
13. Similarly, fold the short left side towards the central crease.
14. Now turn the pattern over again, so the folds in Step 10 are now facing you. The folded flaps are visible now and will form the wings of our Origami ladybug craft.
15. Hold the right flap and pull it outwards by half a centimetre.
16. Similarly, pull the left flap outwards by half a centimetre. The basic shape of your Origami ladybug craft is done!
17. Time to add details! Take a black marker or Sharpie to fill in the space below the wings, which is the body of the ladybug. Next, fill in the ladybug’s head, which is the portion above the wings. Add black circles to the wings and finally, attach 2 googly eyes to the head.
That’s it! Your cute little Origami ladybug craft is complete!
Origami crafts tend to focus on the overall structure of the object we’re creating, but in this case, our Origami ladybug craft has turned out quite realistic, with the addition of googly eyes and the marker details. So go ahead and put this little ladybug on your desk, as a reminder that there is still a lot of beauty in the world!
If you’d like to check out more insect crafts, take a look at these:
- 20 Best Butterfly Crafts for Kids
- 10 Bright and Bubbly Bee Crafts for Kids
- Dashing Dragonfly Papercraft for Kids
- 15 Cute Caterpillar Crafts for Kids
- 15 Super Snazzy Spider Crafts for Kids
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