If you are looking for a simple craft project for you and your kids, you may have considered doing origami. Origami is the Japanese art of folding paper into different shapes, including animals, plants, and an array of three-dimensional structures.
There are many things to learn about this practice, however, origami kits — with their brightly-colored paper squares and instructional booklets — are designed to help you learn this craft.
But what exactly are the best origami kits out there? There is a wide variety available, all with different features. This article will look at the top 5 origami kits available, and describe the materials they offer, their instructional guides, their usability, and how entertaining they might be. With this guide, you will be able to select an origami kit that will provide plenty of fun for you and your family.
Top 5 Origami Kits
1. Kool Krafts 350-Sheet Origami Paper Kit
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Kool Krafts has an origami kit that is designed for older children (ages 9 to 12) who want to get their start in the art with plenty of instruction and materials with which to learn. The kit comes with 350 sheets of paper and an instructional guide, one that offers a variety of projects to work on.
The paper is varied enough so that projects can be very different from each other in terms of form and appearance. Here is a more detailed look at some of the features this kit has to offer.
Materials
The Kool Krafts kit comes with 350 sheets of paper — ones that are 6 inches long by 6 inches wide. This is great because origami primarily uses square sheets of paper, with no cutting or glue involved.
The paper comes first in 20 different colors with 15 sheets of each color. These colors include solid “rainbow” colors (like red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet) and different variations of these and other colors (like shades of green, blue, purple, off-white, orange, grey, and brown).
That accounts for 300 sheets of solid colors, and the next 50 sheets are of different Japanese patterns. These include those with flowers, butterflies, and various different artistic designs. Ranging in colors and backgrounds, these sheets add diversity to potential origami projects.
Instructional Guide
The Kool Krafts kit comes with an instructional guide with 25 different projects to choose from. The guide is in color and features different animals, plants, shapes, and step-by-step instructions for each project on every page.
Among these projects are animals (like dogs, rabbits, foxes, and birds), plants (like flowers and trees), and various other designs (like hearts, houses, planes, and even a t-shirt). This variety is accessible to beginners learning origami, adults and children alike.
Personal Reviews
Users of the Kool Krafts kit noted that it was very accessible to beginners, including children who had tried to learn origami before on their own. Adults were similarly impressed by the kit’s accessibility and felt satisfied by the variety of projects to work on.
There were some users who noted that the kit only had single-color sheets, and because of this, could not be considered traditional origami (to them, origami paper must have at least one solid white side). This, and some felt that projects were too beginner-oriented.
Overall, though, users found the Kool Krafts 350-Sheet Origami Paper Kit to be a beginner-friendly, instructional kit that offered much in terms of paper and projects.
2. Joycat 90-Sheet Origami Paper Kit
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The Joycat 90-Sheet Origami Paper Kit is more than just 90 sheets of origami paper. It has paper, an instructional guide, a materials storage bag, and a set of ornamental stickers for completed projects.
The kit comes with 30 different designs of paper with 3 sheets of each design. In addition to this, the kit has an instructional guide with 30 different origami projects to choose from. Here is a closer look at the kit’s basic and additional features.
Materials
The Joycat kit comes with 90 sheets of origami paper that are 14 centimeters long by 14 centimeters wide (a square that has sides about 5.5 inches long). These sheets of paper come in 30 different patterns, with 3 sheets available for each pattern — a total of 90 sheets of paper.
The patterns are divided into 3 categories: Japanese print designs, animal patterns, and kaleidoscope patterns. There are 10 different patterns for each category and include prints like floral, zebra, leopard, tile, and tye-dye. There is an alternate solid color on the back of these sheets.
Besides the origami paper, there is a sticker sheet with eye, nostril, and eyebrow stickers for completed origami projects. These stickers come in various sizes and can add life to existing animal shapes and forms.
The last basic material included with this kit is the paper storage bag. This bag is 9.96 inches long and 5.67 inches wide. It opens like an envelope and is large enough to hold all unused materials. It may not be suitable for holding some completed projects, however.
Instructional Guide
The Joycat kit comes with a 33-page instructional guidebook that has step-by-step instructions for 30 different origami projects. It comes with tips on how to do basic folding patterns, and also has a QR code scan feature that links to online video projects.
Personal Reviews
Users found the Joycat 90-Sheet Origami Paper Kit to a great kit for a variety of ages, especially for children ages 4 to 12. They appreciated the fact that the instructional guide was tailored for beginners and could make a variety of animals, plants, and different shapes.
They also appreciated that the kit has relatively mess-free and easy to carry around with the storage bag. They found the stickers to be fun, and the projects challenging enough to keep kids and adults alike occupied.
Some users found the kit’s paper to be tough to fold and noted that the paper could tear easily. They also found that the instructional booklet provided somewhat hard-to-follow instructions.
Still, the Joycat kit offers enough features to come back to – and many users found it convenient enough to store and use over and over again.
3. Gamenote Colorful Kids Origami Kit
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The Gamenote Colorful Kids Origami Kit is an origami kit that features 108 double-sided sheets of origami paper and a 55-page instructional booklet with a total of 54 projects. It also features 10 sheets of “practice paper” for those still learning basic folding patterns, making the kit 118 sheets in total.
Unlike a lot of other origami kits, the paper featured in this kit is tailor-made to suit each folding project. If you are folding a paper into the shape of a dog’s face, for example, you will see the printed eyes, ears, and mouth line perfectly with the completed origami shape. Here is a look at the Gamenote origami kit in more detail.
Materials
The Gamenote kit has a total of 118 sheets of origami-friendly paper. The paper is square-shaped and comes in a size of 14 centimeters long by 14 centimeters wide (squares that are 5.5 inches by 5.5 inches).
Of these 118 sheets, 10 of them are practice origami paper in solid colors. These sheets are designed for those wishing to practice their projects and folding techniques. The other 108 sheets are two sheets each of 54 project-oriented origami patterns.
The project-oriented sheets of paper contain patterns that “line up” to the folds and shape of the completed origami project. For example, if you are making a bird, the eyes, beak, and wings will correspond to the folds you see in the finished origami.
These different projects include those for making fish, dogs, birds, frogs, plants, and other objects like boats. The project-oriented shapes of paper have corresponding numbers on them, so you can look them up in the origami instructional book.
Instructional Guide
The instructional guide of the Gamenote kit is 55 pages and contains full-color instructions on how to make 54 origami projects. It also features instructions for making basic folding patterns.
Dotted lines and illustrations are designed to keep origami-makers “on track”, and there are corresponding numbers for each origami project. A total of six pages are set aside for basic origami patterns like square, triangle, and double rhombus folding.
Personal Reviews
Users found that the Gamenote kit was suitable for younger children (ages 4 to 8 years old) and beginners to origami. They appreciated the cute printed designs and found the paper and the instructional booklet to be of good quality.
Some users, however, found the instructions to be easy at first — only to become more complicated with different projects. It is for this reason that some users believe that the kit is not for all beginners, and could be for older children as well.
Despite this, most users found the Gamenote Colorful Kids Origami Kit to be one of heavy, high-quality paper and clear instructions. They found the cute designs great to improve their kids’ practical abilities.
4. Pinwheel Crafts Flower Origami Craft Kit
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The Pinwheel Crafts Flower Origami Craft Kit is designed for those who are looking to make origami specifically in the shape of flowers. This kit has 30 different flower-oriented projects and comes with 100 different pieces of folding paper.
Unlike most origami kits, this kit comes with materials that go beyond standard origami paper. These include things like buttons, plastic jewels, and bendable green stems. A 40-page instructional booklet rounds this kit out — and here is a closer look at this kits features.
Materials
The Pinwheel Crafts kit is a 150-piece kit that includes 100 pieces of origami paper in various colors. The dimensions of the paper squares appear to be around 6 by 6 inches, but this is not specified. In addition to this, the kit comes with 20 chenille stems and 30 plastic gems and buttons.
The stems are helpful in making a completed flower, the buttons are helpful in making ornamental bugs or the center of certain flower designs. The gems serve as additional ornamentation and can complete a greeting card, flower picture, or similar project.
The paper comes in colors like red, blue, pink, purple, green, orange, yellow, and some shades in-between. It is lightweight paper and appears to be colored the same on both sides.
Instructional Guide
The instructional guide of the Pinwheel crafts kit contains 30 different projects for making flowers. It shows how to fold different petals, as well as offers suggestions on how to make stems and leaves.
The guide is 40 pages long and has flower designs ranging from simple to more complicated projects. Its step-by-step instructions offer users a chance to learn more about positioning, folding, and finishing techniques.
Personal Reviews
Users found the Pinwheel Crafts Flower Origami Craft Kit to be suitable for older children, from around the ages of 9 to 12 years old. Younger children were found to need assistance with the projects, as instructions could be intricate.
However, some users actually felt the flowers were easy to make, and enjoyed the different patterns for flower stems, petals, leaves, and vases. Some users particularly enjoyed the different buttons and gems the kit had to offer.
That said, there were some users who felt the instructions were not easy enough to follow along. They felt that the folding lines were not clearly defined and there were no marks on the paper to help out with finishing the origami project.
Still, many users were quite satisfied with the kit, so long as it was being used by older children or by younger children with adult supervision. With a wide variety of flower shapes to choose from, they found the kit quite entertaining.
5. Kyomi USA 320-Sheet Traditional Origami Paper Kit
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The Kyomi USA 320-Sheet Traditional Origami Paper Kit is an origami kit that has traditional origami crafting in mind. This kit features 320 sheets of 100% wood pulp origami paper — the lighter type of kami paper on which traditional Japanese origami was based.
The kit also comes with a plastic storage bag that is reusable, as well as an instructional guide with 30 origami designs. This kit features paper that comes in a variety of colors; more details are explained below.
Materials
The Kyomi USA kit features 320 sheets of wood pulp origami paper, a lighter type of paper that is the traditional standard for origami in Japan. This paper is thin, flexible, and smooth and comes in a 5.9 inch by 5.9 inch square shape (that’s 15 by 15 centimeters).
The paper itself comes in a variety of colors based on shades of pink, yellow, blue, and green. Colors like black, brown, red, orange, gray, and purple are included as well. The paper has color on one side and is white on the other.
Also included in the kit is a 12.9 inch long by 9.4 inch wide zippable plastic storage bag. This bag is water-resistant and is large enough to carry the sheets of origami paper, unfinished origami projects, and the instructional guidebook.
Instructional Guide
The Kyomi USA kit comes with a 30-project instructional guide. This guide has illustrations and step-by-step instructions for making different animal, plant, and object designs.
Personal Reviews
Users thought that the Kyomi USA 320-Sheet Traditional Origami Paper Kit had paper sheets that were of very good quality. They noted that the paper was easy to fold, and the instructions were suitable for children aged 7 and older.
The kit was also found to be something that older people could enjoy too, they especially liked the fact that the kit had an instructional guide that was easy enough to follow. The sealable plastic bag was good, in their opinion, for storing their uncompleted projects, the guide, and paper in general.
The kit instructions were found, however, to not all be completely accessible from the start. For this reason, users recommended that beginners start with the first project listed and gradually increase their skills as they go on.
In all, users found the Kyomi USA 320-Sheet Traditional Origami Paper Kit to be one that could be enjoyed by adults and children alike. They appreciated the very traditional quality of the paper and the variety of colors presented.
Finding the best origami kits available shouldn’t be too hard if you know what you are looking for. Because several kits are tailor-made for different ages, interests, and skill levels, you can usually find one that will fit your needs.
With the right paper, materials, and instructional guidebook to help you get your origami skills to speed you can have a ton of fun with an origami kit, something your whole family can enjoy.