…and foxes, cats, and swallows. 
This was today’s project for the feast of St. Francis. Yes, I know that the Sunday solemnity outranks liturgically, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do a bit of crafting at home in honor of the saint.
The white pentagon in the middle is the frog. It’s the first origami creation I ever learned, and today I taught it to three of the kids (the fourth one was napping). It’s a fun one, made out of an index card, and will hop when you slide your finger off the back, activating the accordion-fold rear legs. This one was easy for everyone, including Tertia, who is almost three. Definitely a hit all around.
Going counter-clockwise, next you come to the fox. Just the traditional, easy fox. Pretty easy for Yakum and Ikinji, who especially liked the squash fold to make the muzzle. Tertia had a little harder time of it, maybe because she was getting tired. Part way through she wandered off to take a nap.
Next up is the cat. Again, one of the more traditional models. It was a little too fiddly for Ikinji. Yakum got it with a couple of false starts.
Finally, the blue one is the swallow. On the one hand, it’s very straightforward. There are no tricky folds, and nothing too fiddly. On the other hand, it isn’t very forgiving of imprecise folds. I find that bird-base based origami models tend to be that way, since the edges abut each other with very little margin for error. Both remaining kids did OK with it, but their models were not quite as successful because of imprecision.
So, quite a fun way to spend an hour or so in honor of St. Francis. Now it’s time to douse the cats with holy water for their annual blessing.
Saint Francis, pray for us.
Quasi Renaissance Man 