Book Review: Noah's Art Origami
Abigail Benjamin
It's Lent! It's a great time to introduce your kids to the Japanese Paper Art of Origami as they fast from electronics. Thunder Press has created an all-inclusive kit called "Noah's Art Origami" by Seth Friedman for $24.95. This is a family friendly activity with 100 sheets of printed origami paper to craft Noah, his wife, an ark and a giant cast of animal characters. A 112 page booklet of maps and historical information on Noah's Ark has enough detail for the geekiest of Bibilical Scholars. I loved the laminated paper Ark which could store all the origami creations once they were finished.
I put my 10 year old son to work on making the origami creations. He rated it at an intermediate level of ability and he liked the nice, clear directions. In addition to the popular giraffe and elephant, I loved the look of the more creative origami creations such as a white spotted deer and a ram with a curly horn. My son's favorite origami creation was two sheet turtle which had green legs and a textured shell. My five year old melted over the origami rabbit. The origami directions come printed in a handy book, so I can easily save it and fold more paper bunnies for our mantle this Spring.
Paper folding is such a gentle family activity. I find my pre-teens really benefit from the focus origami requires. My younger kids are amazed whenever they see flat paper turned into 3 D creations. If you are looking at more ways to avoid time on Netflix this Lent and keep your family more focused on Christ, a $25 investment in "Noah's Art Origami" might be a great gateway into this beautiful art form.