Would you like to know what the origin of origami is? This is a brief history to give you background of how it is now such a popular past time. This will definately help you decide what origami to make.

Today origami is synomous with Japanese culture but it actually began in China in the 1st Century BC. The Japanese only caught onto it around the 6th Century when they gave it the name "Origami", which is the Japanese word for paper folding (ori - fold and gami - paper).

Orginally origami was used for spiritual worship and the folding of paper symbolised the Spirit of God. Worshippers wrapped there offerings in paper before hanging them up at the Kotai Jingu ( Grand Imperial Shrines) of Ise. Overtime these wrappings became more and more elaborate.

This custom soon spread to other ceremonies. Mecho and Ocho Butterflies were wrapped around the bottles of wine symbolizing the union of a Shinto marriage.

This is not only an art form. Research has shown that origami actually helps in developing the fine motor skills in children and stimulates mathematical abilities. No matter what origami you decide to make, making origami has many benefits. There are so many different things to make out of a simple piece of paper.

There are also professional origami artists who make their day to day living from this ancient art form. Robert Lang is one of these professional origami artists and has more than thirty years experience as a full time origami artist. Robert is considered to be one of the world's foremost authorities on origami. He is the author of many origami books. He has been instrumental in postulating theories of technical origami also known as origami sekkei . This specialised origami is developed using mathematical origami. Originally, new origami designs where developed by trial-and-error, luck and serendipity. Advancements in origami mathematics lead to being able to take the basic structure of the new origami model and theoretically plot it out on paper before starting to do any folding. This may seem very complex; it is definitely something to work towards after having learned the basics of how to make origami.

The choice of origami to make is endless ranging from simple cranes, boxes and stars to more intricate creations. The best way to start making origami is to start with more simple creations. This video will show you how to do an origami bird.