Flapping Butterfly - Origami Teaching Tale
Flapping Butterfly origami model by deg farrelly (1989)
Story by Anne Bedrick (2001)
Story in BoldFolding directions in Italic
I live in a house
Show the color square of paper
And behind my house is a woods
Move hand in circular motion behind the piece of paper
In early spring
Turn the paper over to the white side
As the winter snows melt away I like to walk back there.
A river runs through the middle of the woods.
Book fold the paper in half, color side out
Show the "valley" fold
The animals in the woods come to drink from the river.
They come from one side of the woods
Fold one edge of the paper into the middle
And they come from the other side of the woods
Fold the other edge of the paper into the middle
And people come from the four corners of the world
Fold the corners of the paper into the centerline (airplane fold)
To look at the animals.
They come in boats
Fold the paper in half to show the "boat" shape
Move the paper through the air, like a boat bobbing on water.
There is a place where the river gets very very narrow. At that point the boat gets squeezed.
Pinch the middle of the "boat" shape, top to bottom
Near that place where the river gets narrow and the boat gets squeezed
Turn the paper over to show the mountain fold made by the pinch
There is a hill.
I like to walk up to the top of the hill
Move your index and 2nd finger in a "walking" pattern, then clamp the "boat" between them, horizontally. one finger below, and index finger on top. Wrap the "boat" around your index finger. With your other hand, hold the two pointed flaps together tightly around your finger.
Where young flowers are just starting to poke up from underground
Slip your finger out of the loop, leaving a cylinder shape then poke it from underneath so it forms a dent (DO NOT let go with your other hand)
But if you look VERY carefully?..
Put your thumb and forefinger on opposite ends of the "dented" cylinder
Sometimes you see that not all of them are flowers? But that some are actually, BUTTERFLIES!!!!!
Squeeze your thumb and forefinger together, while you release the points from your other hand Squeezing back and forth and moving your hand through the air, Flapping the butterfly
deg farrelly, 7.15.02