![]() Which super-cool origami ninja star is your kiddo requesting? You might have to make the first few rounds, but with a little patience (and “screen time”), your child will master each origami figure. May we suggest red and black construction paper? You could simply use two pieces of notebook paper, which gives the star a bi-colored design kids may find more attractive. This origami creation is probably the most popular. “Normal” Ninja Star (Using Two Pieces of Paper) These videos will walk you through the most popular options. Just like there are many throwing star designs, there are also multiple ways to fold an origami ninja star. While real throwing stars were fierce and deadly, the paper craft is a fairly safe toy in comparison… minus papercuts and the occasional folder corner landing somewhere tender. It was often taught alongside other martial arts. Fun fact: The art of properly wielding and fighting with throwing stars and daggers is known as shurikenjutsu. Interestingly enough, “ninja stars” weren’t actually used by ninjas - but by samurais and ashigaru soldiers. The word shuriken translates to “hidden hand blade” and is a term used to encompass many small, concealable weapons, including daggers. So, where do ninja stars fit in? While ninjas were around as early as the 12th century and more prevalent in the 15th century, the earliest “ninja star” (or shuriken) seemed to have appeared during the 17th century. Meanwhile, Samurais seemed to prefer a more upfront attack. ![]() Just as popular culture has portrayed them, ninjas were quick, quiet and, above all else, sneaky. Strictly speaking, the Samurai caste believes that ninjas’ sometimes unscrupulous way of performing their duties made them less “honorable” than the Samurai. While many kids might use the words “ninja” and “Samurai” interchangeably, it’s worth noting that they’re actually very different. Ninjas were top secret agents and mercenaries whose first appearance came about in feudal Japan. Some several centuries after the origami boom, Japan saw the rise of ninjas (or shinobi). At the time, paper was still so hard to find and so expensive that origami was only used for special, often religious ceremonies. The origami tradition has been part of Japanese culture since 500 A.D., after Chinese paper finally made its way to Japan. ![]() Origami literally comes from two Japanese words: “Oru,” which means “to fold,” and “kami,” which means paper. It makes sense, too, as both origami and ninjas are a major part of Japanese culture. If you’d like to make your own origami star boxes and need some pretty paper, you can download our printable origami paper here.Perhaps unsurprisingly, one of the most fun and popular origami creations kids want to make are ninja stars. The only really tricky part is the first bit, the rest is simple enough for even little hands to do with help… but if my instructions make no sense, then try these ones which are animated! Here is how we made our origami star boxes: Now that we had some cool patterned paper to play with we perfected our box making method quite quickly and made a heap of them. So while the girls attempted to work through the various instructions we’d found, I decided to make our own origami paper. Of course we didn’t have any lovely origami paper, we didn’t even have any plain coloured paper, we just had boring, white printer paper. It was an origami box, and I figured it was a pretty cool school holiday project so we set about looking for simple instructions online, and finding some paper. “I want to make that” she said, holding up a picture torn from an ancient magazine. ![]()
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