TikTok is commonly known for its popular dances and random videos posted by social media influencers. One side of TikTok that I really enjoy is the educational videos. I often find teachers on TikTok discussing classroom layouts, lesson ideas and class management strategies.

This week I decided to explore the social media platform of TikTok to find origami tutorials! I was hopeful because TikTok only allows videos to be posted, so I figured that this would be a great way to expand my folding skills as opposed to simply reading instructions. 

First I began the search. I typed in “Origami tutorials” within the search bar and hit enter. The following photo is what I came across.

After I started scrolling through, I found myself feeling a little bit disappointed. As I mentioned in my last blog post, I was hoping to begin creating more animals. Many of the videos that  I found were showing how to create boxes, envelopes, or shapes I have already made before. Eventually I did end up finding a few tutorials that I was excited to try:

1. The paper dinosaurs: This tutorial posted by Origammaray, was very fun to follow. My first attempt I felt was going okay until I had my finished product. My folds looked a little bit rough around the edges, and for some reason the legs stuck out to the side too much. Therefore, the dinosaur I created was not able to stand firmly like the one in the tutorial appeared to be doing. 

After looking at my creation, I decided to attempt the dino one more time. This time I used a small (sticky note size) piece of paper. To my surprise, I think I found using a smaller piece of paper to be easier to work with! My second attempt turned out better and stronger than the first, plus the dino was able to stand strong on its two back legs! One thing I would like to improve on is making the two front little arms more defiant as they are barely noticeable in my opinion. 

2. Swan: I created a paper swan using a tutorial form an account called kimigami. This was a good tutorial, but did not require many folds and I found it was more simple than I was hoping for. This would have been a great video to watch and follow during my first week of the learning project! This being said, I was happy to follow along and I think that the finished product turned out just like the tutorial.

3. Sea turtles: I found a really cute tutorial while searching origami on how to make a turtle. This was a video I couldn’t pass by without trying! The TikTok was created by kimigami, the same creator that I used for the swan, and it was a very straightforward tutorial. The shell for some reason was uneven, so I had to fold in different amounts on each side. Im thinking that this mistake was due to an uneven fold. I found the finished product to be really cute and I enjoyed making this creation. I found the turtle to be simple to make and would work great for anyone at the beginner level, or young students within the classroom. 

Because I found using a smaller piece of paper easier for making the dinosaur, I decided to use the small paper once again to create a baby turtle. One thing that was a little bit tricky was folding the head of the creature as I didn’t have a lot of paper to work with. Overall I am happy with the results.

This week I explored a new (to me) video editing tool called InShot. Using this tool/app, I created a video that demonstrates my Origami skills and provides a tutorial for viewers to follow along with the turtle making process.

NOTE: please see my blog post titled “Exploring New Tools” for a review on the editing tool that I used. 

Review on TikTok:

TikTok is an okay tool to use to find information on how to do things. I found the videos for origami were very simple, so if you are wanting to utilize this app, I would recommend using it for a beginner level. I did find myself having to sort through many videos to find ones that I would like to create, or that didn’t just show how to create boxes/containers. Because of this, I would rate TikTok a 6/10 as a resource for learning the skill of origami. I also do not think that this resource is great for tutorials as many of the videos are quite short, meaning that they are fast paced. Similar to what I said last week, I would still recommend “paper kawaii” as the tool to use when teaching students as it requires less time to sort through tutorials to find what you would like to create.

Extra:

This week’s TikTok exploration went well, but I was looking for more of a challenge. I decided to revisit the paper kawaii website from week one and attempt the lotus flower once again. I used the same paper as I did in week one and had the same results (ripped paper, not able to make the folds). I personally think that the paper rips because there are too many folds in one area. I thought that perhaps by using a larger piece of paper (30cmx30cm instead of 15×15) it might fix my problem because then I would have a larger piece to work with. 

After attempting with a larger piece of paper, I found it to be difficult getting the first folds started, and I ran into the same problem with my paper ripping when trying to make the petals. This paper lotus is a challenge for me and my goal is to be able to create this by the end of the learning project.

Question: I am thinking that a different type of paper might be better for this creation. Do you have any ideas on what kind of paper I can use that can be folded many times without ripping?  

Tech resources used:

• TikTok to find tutorials
• InShot to create my own video tutorial
• YouTube to upload InShot video
• Website: Paper Kawaii to view lotus flower tutorial

What I learned:

• Using a smaller piece of paper can sometimes be easier and can create stronger shapes
• TikTok has some good origami resources, but you may have to search and sort through videos to find ones you want
• InShot is a great tool to use to edit videos
• Using a larger piece of paper did not help make the lotus flower any easier to create
• I have realized that for many of the origami figures, the same folds are used at the beginning (fold diagonally both ways, then fold in half one way and the other way). Because of this I think that I am getting faster at the beginning steps! I can notice my improvements each week and I look forward to moving onto more interesting shapes that require more folds (as well as eventually master the lotus flower)