Birds and words: How to make an origami crane

Posted on by Lauren MacCarthy.

by Ailsa Richardson, engagement officer for older people

Although we are unable to run Creative Cafés at the museum right now, we have sent out some birds and words for participants to hang in their windows.

These are individual gifts for residents living with dementia and their carers, hand-made by museum staff.

A red origami crane with a floral patternThe birds are origami cranes, they are a symbol of long life, hope and healing.

The Japanese word origami is a combination of two words in Japanese: “ori” which means ‘to fold’ and ‘kami’ which means ‘paper’. It is believed that Japanese origami began in the 6th century.

You can follow these instructions to make your crane (PDF) or you can find many YouTube videos to help you.

15cm square paper is about right and most types of paper will work. We have threaded the cranes and printed words together with a needle and thread. Knotting the thread holds the crane in place. You can hang them individually or hang a few from a piece of thin wood to make a mobile.

The words we have included might inspire conversation and memories, or act as a two worded poem to soothe your furrowed brow!

Some of you will have received a few origami ‘dolls’ too. This is because we have been inspired by our display of Japanese Dolls (Hinamatsuri) and the museum’s collection of Japanese prints.

We will be sending some activities by postcard in the future. Please keep in touch at [email protected] or by social media @bristolmuseum.

Keep well, and we hope it will not be too long before we see you again.

Main image: © Kevin Harber

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.