Kirigami - Whole School

It's the week before Winter break and I had planned to tap into the kids excitement of snow for this project - but since it seems that December is determined to act more like spring than winter there is no extra 'snow excitement'.  I decided to stick with the project anyhow, knowing the kids would love it even if it was raining outside and 50 degrees.

I started out the lesson with the word "Kirigami" on the board and asked students to raise their hand if they thought they might have an idea of what "Kirigami" meant.  I asked them if it sounded like another word we already know.  At this point a bunch of hands flew into the air.

Most times someone would mention cutting paper - or said that maybe Kirigami was like a paper snowflake.  I proceeded to explain that like origami, kirigami is a Japanese word and art form.  The word Kirigami roughly translates to "kiru" = to cut and "kami" = paper.  Kirigami is paper that is folded and then cut - revealing a symmetrical design.

For the younger kids, k-2, we learned what symmetrical was and then 2-5th learned that sometimes  there can be more than one line of symmetry.  I proceeded to draw some basic shapes on the board and asked students to show me on their fingers how many lines of symmetry an equilateral triangle would have.  I then waited for all hands to show me a number before I had a student come up and draw a line of symmetry.  We repeated this with a square as well.  Students really got into trying to figure out how many ways you could divide a shape in half while still having it be the same on both sides! 

I transferred this idea back to their kirigami, by explaining that their kirigami would most likely have 2 or 4 lines of symmetry depending on how they cut it. 

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Next we passed out square pieces of paper, folded the first one together, drew on shapes, cut out - and then the students had the rest of class to make as many snowflakes as they wanted.  I had the Kinders and 1st graders fold their paper into a mountain and then fold their mountain in half.  The 2-5th grade students did the same as the younger kids but then folded it one more time in half. 

During this lesson students learned and practiced:
1- Symmetry and lines of symmetry
2- cutting techniques
3- folding
4- visualization
5- problem solving
6- asking for help

For a few of the classes I drew "challenge" patterns on their papers -- they loved the challenge and their end snowflake!

1st and Kindergarten Kirigami (snowflakes)

When we came back from Thanksgiving break we had our first snow in the Midwest and the students were excited - so I took the opportunity for a 'teaching moment'.  Instead of fighting the snow I taught the students about kirigami, cutting folded paper, and made snowflakes!  The students were very excited and had a great time cutting shapes and being surprised when they opened their creations!