How to Make the Jumping Frog Origami

IntroductionOrigami is the art of folding paper. The goal of origami is to fold paper into shapes or designs without cutting or gluing it. While it is commonly thought that origami had its start in Japan, independent paper folding traditions existed in Europe as well. At this time, there is not enough evidence to conclude whether they developed separately or had a common origin.

Origami paper can range widely in composition and size. Almost any flat material can work as long as the sheet can hold a crease without constant application of force. Traditional paper used in Japan is made using bamboo, hemp, rice, and wheat. Normal printer paper can be used in making most of the simplistic shapes, such as the paper crane, but more intricate projects require foil-back paper. Foil-back paper is a sheet of thin foil glued to a sheet of thin paper. Other types of paper for more complex models include artisan papers, tissue foil, and heavier weighted papers.

This instruction set will describe, step by step, the folds needed in order to transform a flat piece of paper into a jumping frog and is divided into two parts. The first part is a materials section detailing all the necessary tools and supplies used to create the frog. The second section will contain the actual instructions accompanied by a graphic depicting the end product of each step.

Step 1

Figure 2: Cutting along the line

Materials

Paper : any type will do

Scissors (optional) : if you don’t have square paper or feel

uncomfortable tearing the paper by hand

Binder or Book (optional) : used to make neater folds

Take a green sheet of 8.5x11 paper and fold it diagonally so that side (A) meets side (B) forming a square by the overlap. Trace the edge that was just formed with a pen or pencil. Using a pair of scissors cut along the line.

______________________________________________________________________________

Step 2

Fold the green square diagonally at both corners and also in half. The folds in the square should look similar to the folds in Figure (3).

______________________________________________________________________________

Step 3

Flip the piece of paper over so that the middle of the square is in the air, not the edges. Push in on the two sides (as seen in Figure 4) so that the top edge is folded down to meet the bottom edge. This step is tricky but you want the paper to fold into a triangle as shown in Figure (5).

Step 4

Position the triangle so that the longest side is closest towards you. Fold the right corner of the top layer to meet at the middle of the triangle along the dotted line. Repeat this step with the top layer of the left corner.

REMEMBER to only fold the top layer of the triangle!

Figure 1: Making the Square

Figure 3: All of the folds in the square

Figure 4: Pushing in to create triangle fold Figure 5: The Triangle Fold

______________________________________________________________________________

Step 5

Fold the right top layer so that the corner is now touching the midline of the triangle. Repeat this step with the left top corner as well.

Step 6

Next, fold the top right layer outwards along the dotted line. This is a tough fold. Do the same fold with the left top layer as well. Your paper should look like Figure (11).

Figure 6 Figure 7

Figure 8 Figure 9

dfd

______________________________________________________________________________

Step 7

Turn the piece of paper over. The folds should be hidden from plain view.

______________________________________________________________________________

Step 8

Fold along the diagonal (the middle black line in Figure 13) on the right side. Do the same fold for the left side of the paper. Your origami frog should look similar to Figure (14) at this point in the process.

Step 9

Fold outward along the right diagonal (dotted line). Do the same to the left side. The paper should look like Figure (16).

Figure 10 Figure 11

Figure 12

Figure 13 Figure 14

Figure 16

______________________________________________________________________________

Step 10

Fold the frog in half. To properly do this, fold the bottom half of the paper underneath of the top half.

______________________________________________________________________________

Step 11

Turn the frog over.

______________________________________________________________________________

Step 12

Fold the frog’s back legs down along the dotted line in Figure (18). Flip the paper over. Congratulations! You have completed the jumping frog origami.

Figure 15

Figure 17

______________________________________________________________________________

Step 13

To make the frog jump, press down with your index finger on the bottom of the frog’s back and release your finger. This should make the frog hop.

Hint: Make sure that the hind legs are folded underneath before you press down with your finger.

ConclusionCongratulations! You have just completed your first jumping frog origami. If you thought this was fun and want to experiment with some more intricate origami there are numerous videos and instruction sets online to practice from.

Figure 18: Fold Back Legs along Dashed Line

Figure 19: The Completed Jumping Frog

Figure 20: Making the frog jump

Before you just throw out the origami that you made, you may be surprised to know there are homes for these paper designs. Many pediatric cancer patients ask their friends and families to make the origami for them as a sense of strength and support.

Gianna Corpora, Patrick’s little sister, was classmates with one of these pediatric cancer patients. The young boy was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a malignant tumor that develops from nerve tissue. He asked everyone to make origami cranes so that they could be placed in pediatric cancer units all across America. His story and the story of thousands of other pediatric cancer patients live through these origami folds. To learn more about The National Crane Project, visit https://sites.lafayette.edu/nationalcraneproject/about-the-national-crane-project/.