“And when you pull on the arms, it opens and closes!” These were the words that sparked my interest in origami. It was just another boring day during the pandemic, when everyone was stuck at home. I had been mindlessly scrolling YouTube and came across a video on a channel called Jeremy Shafer Origami, where Jeremy was teaching a complex venus flytrap. Over the following years, I folded more complex models, from tigers and lions to dragons.
During that time, I realized that if I found origami so much fun, other people could use it as a break from the monotony of the pandemic as well. Thus, I began volunteering and teaching other students origami, designing a two-week virtual summer camp and creating video tutorials. I still remember when a first grader’s face lit up as he successfully completed a very complex step, which made me happy when I realized I was helping others get through the pandemic.
Discovering the Scope of Origami
My interest in origami’s applications in the real world came later.
It was October 2023, and I had just been invited to the OrigamiUSA’s PCOC (Pacific Coast Origami Convention) in San Francisco. As I stared in wonder at the intricate models around me, from complex animals to life-sized cuckoo clocks, I realized that there was so much more to the world of origami than I had assumed. I still remember the moment when I sat down for dinner and found that Robert Lang was right across from me. I expected him to talk about the cool origami models that he folded, but instead, he talked about math, engineering and other concepts that I barely understood at the time.
After dinner, I was curious and looked up what Robert Lang had created. I found that he made a program called Treemaker, which simulates complex folding and allows people to easily design origami models. Through my exploration, I found out that origami wasn’t just used for art. It specifically connects to a field called industrial engineering, which includes optimizing existing systems to make them more efficient.
This was the moment it all clicked. If I, a mere high schooler who had just started folding origami for fun, could find such a unique and impactful project, then why aren’t we teaching this in schools? I also knew that in the future, people would increasingly focus on interdisciplinary work, as the combination of STEM and humanities allows not only for practical solutions, but also for better identification and reporting of problems.
Teaching Folding and Science
I wanted to bridge that gap, so I started the initiative FoldEDU, inviting some like-minded students to join my journey.
I took everything I learned, from the history of origami to the scientific knowledge of space exploration to origami in medicine, and I designed the The Art, Science and Engineering of Folding program, which includes a six-part workshop series. Each workshop focuses on a single area where origami is applied, with real-world examples and relevant hands-on folding experiences. I, with my team, launched workshops in schools, churches and libraries.
Throughout the sessions, we see that students love to engage and think critically about the world around them. For example, in one session, a student mentioned that an origami robot looked and worked like a snake and theorized that it could also operate in cramped environments and help locate trapped people after a disaster.
To make the initiative truly scalable, I developed detailed facilitator’s guides for every workshop. These include scripts, tips on pacing and deep-dive scientific explanations, so that a teacher, librarian, parent or anyone who wants to educate students about the links between origami and art, science and engineering can successfully lead a workshop.
Origami and Neurodiverse Youth
During my research, I also learned that folding can be helpful for neurodiverse people. Origami is great for neurodiverse learners because it’s hands-on, visual, and step-by-step. This simple process makes abstract ideas feel concrete and manageable. It also supports different strengths, since some people like the calming repetition and focus of origami, while others like the pattern-finding and creativity. It’s easy to adjust the pace and difficulty so everyone can feel involved. Since I am a youth board member of the Pacific Autism Center for Education, I have been trying different ways to support the neurodiverse students there. I have shared the whole set of origami workshop guides with therapists and teachers in the center. Along with my team members, I also organized fundraising events by distributing origami models.
Workshop Guides and a Book
While I was researching ways to help neurodiverse students, I realized that non-traditional ways of learning could be helpful for all students. Thus, using my workshops, I began writing a children’s book series, so people can learn about the connection between origami and STEM from a young age:
More recently, our team began collaborating with the Bolivian Origami Society to organize an international origami seminar with countries such as Spain, Japan, Indonesia and Ecuador. We aim to educate people all over the world about the important connection between origami and STEM. In the future, I plan to expand FoldEDU’s operations globally and work with even more countries.
Through the FoldEDU initiative, I hope more people will understand that a simple sheet of paper isn’t just a toy or hobby but rather a blueprint for innovation in science and engineering. I welcome anyone interested to join or refer to the workshop guides or storybook to help more students.
To learn more about the initiative, download our curriculum sample for Space Explorers. Please visit foldedu.org to contact us with your requests, comments, feedback and questions; I am happy to share all workshop materials without charge.
Comments
Thank you so much for sharing the information about FoldEDU. This is exciting stuff that could be useful in a lot of different settings. Many thanks to Leon for his generous sharing of his ideas and his work. ///