We are on the home stretch with these learning projects, and I can honestly say that I am having a lot of fun! I will admit, I have faced moments of extreme frustration, but I have not let this hold me back. Once I recover from these moments… I usually end up having a few giggles…

Let me guess, you are thinking hmmmm Danica, what is this?? 

Well, you will be very surprised to know that this is my attempt at a kangaroo…Although I’m thinking I should tell people that I was trying to accomplish a lizard, because to me, that’s what this kind of looks like

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This week I chose to explore the wonderful platform of YouTube. Let me tell you, this was like a breath of fresh air. YouTube has it all! Anything I wanted to create, I just used the search function at the top of the page, and BOOM, I have multiple video tutorials! When watching the tutorials, I often slowed down the videos by changing the playback speed, which can be found on the bottom right hand corner of the clip. 

As I have previously mentioned, the end of my learning project journey is slowly creeping up, so I decided to try and up my folding game! This week I looked for videos that looked interesting, but more complicated then what I have attempted in the past. 

First, I decided to attempt creating an elephant, as this is an animal that I have always really liked. When I used the search bar, I was happy to find that many different looking elephants can be made. Because of this, I followed two different tutorials so that I could compare.

The first tutorial was posted by the YouTube channel “First art & craft” and the video was titled “Origami Elephant:Amazing Paper Elephant Making Step-by-Step|Origami Elephant Craft Ideas”. As I read through the comments on this video, I found one that said “Honestly, this was a very hard tutorial to follow, especially for beginners. I’ve been doing origami since I was a child, but this was made harder than it looks”. Because of this comment, I decided to take the challenge and test out me new learned skills. To my surprise, I was able to follow along! This goes to show that the hours of practice I have put in to folding is finally paying off!

One thing I did not like about the elephant is that the back half didn’t seem realistic to me. I tried adjusting the tail so that it folded down more, but to me it just seemed kind of “off”. In total this took me about 40 minutes to make from start to finish. This may seem like a long time, considering the tutorial video is 7min 40sec. But I always take a long time to make sure that my folds are done correctly. This tutorial I would recommend to an intermediate level origami creator as it was tricky to follow along, but it is definitely doable

Next, I used a tutorial posted by “easy origami” titled “How To Make A Paper Origami Easy Elephant”. I chose this one, as it seemed to look more realistic. I found this tutorial to be easier than the first elephant and took less time to make, which surprised me because of how detailed it appeared. This goes to show that more difficulty does not always look better! I was happy with the tutorial as it was straight forward and easy to watch all of the steps. One thing that I would have liked to have done better is to have more of a flat line at the top of the head, as well as a longer tail. The tutorial shows a longer tail, so I am not sure where I went wrong. When I went into the comments to see if others had this problem, I saw someone had mentioned that they didn’t end up with a tail at all! So this must be a common mistake that folders make.

Overall I definitely like my second elephant the best. What do you think?

Next, I wanted to create something that functioned, as this is something I had yet to try. What better to make than a hopping frog? For this creation I decided to follow a tutorial titled “Origami Jumping Frog Instructions: www.origami-Fun.com”  completed by the account “origamifun”. This tutorial was super fun to follow and one that I will definitely use again in the future. Once I was done following the steps, I pressed on the back of the frog and watched it jump! 

After creating a simple frog, I decided to create another one, but increase the level of difficulty. For this I decided to follow a tutorial titled “ORIGAMI JUMPING FROG (Traditional model)” as this frog looked more realistic. The content creator “Origami with Jo Nakashima” did an excellent job showing a step by step walkthrough of how to make this frog. I did find the creation took more time to make than the first time as more folds were required. I really like the final piece, but was disappointed that the frog barely jumped when attempted. I think that the frog had a difficult time getting air because of the additional folds compared to the first one. The folds made the frog hard to compress together before releasing. 

Overall there are definitely things to both frogs that I enjoy. I like the simplicity of the first frog, that I can create it easily and that it jumps high! I also like the detail and challenge of the second one! Which one do you like better?

Lastly was my attempt at the kangaroo following a the tutorial “Origami Kangaroo (Jo Nakashima)” by “Origami with Jo Nakashima”. The thing that made me laugh the most, is I really thought that I was doing a great job… until I paused and took a closer look to compare with what the tutorial was showing… 

This was very hard to make and I was unable to finish due to the fact that my folds were not looking that spectacular! Oh well, I know that learning this skill takes time, and my hope is to one day be able to accomplish this 🙂 I think that the tutorial was created in a way that is excellent for people to follow, it was just too advanced for me right now.

Its interesting how each week I have great success and then a couple of fall backs… kind of like the saying “one step forward and two steps back”. But I do feel like I am learning lots, and this is something worth celebrating.

Review of YouTube: I will keep this part short, as I have mentioned above how I really enjoyed this platform for following tutorials. The videos were easy to find and very helpful. I would rate this resource a 10/10, this is my new favourite tool to use to help me learn the skill of origami and would definitely see myself using this in the classroom with students. 

Tech resources used:

• YouTube App to find tutorials
• InShot to create photo collage
• YouTube website to upload video
• Bitmoji Extension
• Iphone to take pictures and video

What I learned:

• There are multiple ways of making things
• It takes time to ensure folds are made correctly
• More difficult tutorials does not always mean it appears more detailed

Goal for next week:

• Reattempt making a crab (from week 3)
• Explore more intricate creations using pinterest and apps 
• Follow an “under the sea” theme
• Demonstrate the skills I have learned over the course of the semester!