The process of shape-configuration play for a 2.3 year old child using origami: Origami as a tool for instruction to develop a child?s ability to configure shapes
This study treated origami like pieces of a puzzle, by creating simple and regular origami forms, which required folds into point-symmetric shapes (parallelograms) and other folds into line-symmetric shapes (isosceles triangles). The purpose of this research was to examine how access to an existing tradition of origami, as tool for instruction, could be used to create and configure of shapes through child’s play and practice. Observation research was conducted on 26 infant subjects aged between 30 and 44 months of age at a nursery school. First, we examined the way in which the 2 to 3 year old children play with origami. The results were broadly classified into 3 patterns: (1) movement constitution type; (2) insertion type; (3) transformation type. Next, we investigated the difference in development of play by different ages. The results were that the lower the age they connected the pieces using their unchanged forms. As the age increased, it was seen that they developed from playing with many pieces to connecting them using their unchanged forms and by inserting a few pieces through playing, and by modifying a few pieces. The results showed that the 2 to 3 year old child had the opportunity to experiment using origami techniques to fold the paper into line-symmetric shapes and point-symmetric shapes through a form of play, wherein the child formed and created new shapes using his/her own methods
