Kids Origami Sets for Children’s Literature

A while ago I was preparing a Sunday school lesson for our kids at church and was chatting with my husband about ideas. He chimed in that I should try a simple origami project with them as a part of the lesson. He ran off to get a piece of paper and quickly folded a cute little pocket heart. Of course, I’m all thumbs, so that wasn’t going to happen. But I made a mental note to check out some origami projects because I knew my own kids would love them, especially my 8 year old princess, Samantha. 

I love finding projects that are simple, enriching, and can be done together with my kids or on their own as a quiet time project. I was told about some fantastic kids origami sets and when we got our box in the mail I was really excited because the origami projects were based on classic children’s literature! My Samantha is a big reader. She always has her nose in a book and I knew she’d love these and I could use them for read aloud time so we all could enjoy them.. 

We couldn’t wait to get started! 

 

These kids origami sets are a perfect gift for kids but also a great quiet time activiity, a gift-making project, and a wonderful way to explore the classic storybooks of Beauty and the Beast and Alice in Wonderland!

Disclosure: *This post may include affiliate links. As an affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Read the disclosures and terms for more information.

This post  is sponsored by Dover Publications. I received compensation for reviewing the materials but I always give an honest opinion! 

We’ve been working through two of these gorgeous books and have really been enjoying them. Beauty and the Beast Origami and Alice in Wonderland Origami are hardback books and include beautiful illustrations and a modern retelling of the classic stories, staying more true to the original storyline than the movies, which I was pleased with. There are step-by-step instructions for a variety of objects and characters in the books with special designed papers you can use to do the projects!

Of course we dove right in with just reading and admiring the illustrations! Long after the origami projects are done these will be well loved books in our home. We read them together and my independent readers picked them up several times on their own and were retelling the stories to their siblings all the time. 

I wanted to show you a photo of a story page. I really appreciated the style of the illustrations and even the text formatting is artistic and adds to the story! These little touches always make books even more special to kids! I also like how this one has the picture of the origami project that goes with it and a note on where to find it in the book. The Beauty and the Beast Origami book had all the instructions at the back, while the Alice in Wonderland Origami book had them interspersed with the relevant parts of the story.  

 

These kids origami sets are a perfect gift for kids but also a great quiet time activiity, a gift-making project, and a wonderful way to explore the classic storybooks of Beauty and the Beast and Alice in Wonderland!

Each book has these collages of finished projects and illustrations from the book, to give you an idea of all the things the kids can make. 

These kids origami sets are a perfect gift for kids but also a great quiet time activiity, a gift-making project, and a wonderful way to explore the classic storybooks of Beauty and the Beast and Alice in Wonderland!

These kids origami sets are a perfect gift for kids but also a great quiet time activiity, a gift-making project, and a wonderful way to explore the classic storybooks of Beauty and the Beast and Alice in Wonderland!

I decided to do some of the origami projects on my own before doing them with the kids. I wanted to make it as fun and successful as possible, and did I mention I’m all thumbs? So one night I pulled the books out and started making note of the easiest projects. In Beauty and the Beast Origami, the rose definitely is easiest so I started with that. For Alice in Wonderland, I think most of the non-people ones are a little easier. 

As an aside, doing origami by yourself is oddly therapeutic for the busy mom. Maybe it’s the satisfaction of folding paper instead of laundry. It might become the new fad to replace adult coloring books, right? 

I’m glad I spent that time looking through it and practicing first. If you and your kids aren’t familiar with origami already then I definitely recommend practicing first! Of course, Dover has beginner origami books too if you search their site. But we have zero experience and we still enjoyed it! 

The books have really helpful getting started tips at the beginning with a key for what different folding symbols and actions mean in the project instructions. That is important to get familiar with before you start. Then each project has visual and written instructions for how to do the origami. I found it helpful to read through and look at all the pictures before starting, kind of like what you do for a recipe. Often if a step didn’t make sense to me I could figure it out by looking ahead. 

Samantha and I worked on several of the projects. She started out with the caterpillar one and really enjoyed it, telling me his part in the story. We messed up and put the wrong side of the paper inside on the first try, but she was adorable and just made her own caterpillar eyes and glued them on. No sweat!

Here is a snapshot of her with the first project she did!

These kids origami sets are a perfect gift for kids but also a great quiet time activiity, a gift-making project, and a wonderful way to explore the classic storybooks of Beauty and the Beast and Alice in Wonderland!

These kids origami sets are a perfect gift for kids but also a great quiet time activiity, a gift-making project, and a wonderful way to explore the classic storybooks of Beauty and the Beast and Alice in Wonderland!

These kids origami sets are a perfect gift for kids but also a great quiet time activiity, a gift-making project, and a wonderful way to explore the classic storybooks of Beauty and the Beast and Alice in Wonderland!

Bottom Line on the Dover Kids Origami Sets

Overall, I definitely recommend these Dover storybook origami books!! If they make more, we’ll buy them. They make fantastic gifts for kids or grandkids (when they came out with one for Jane Austen’s Emma you can send me a copy LOL!). With Christmas coming up I’d keep these in mind! 

I don’t see an age recommendation on the Dover site, but I would say 8 and up if your kids aren’t familiar with origami. Maybe a year or two younger if they are. With my 8 year old I alternated steps with her or did one side and she’d do the other. Or I would do the project alongside of her with my own paper. That way she learned how to be more precise with folds but was still doing the work and learning. Even if you mess up there’s usually a way to creatively correct it or go back a few steps and fix it. 

Some things I would have liked to see: There are enough duplicate papers for a handful of tries or multiple kids. I do wish there was a way to buy extra sets of the papers because we definitely would! But you can still do the folding with your own papers when you run out, and just draw and color in the detail after you’re done. Video tutorials of one or more of these projects would have made it a little easier for us, but we figured it out and had fun.

Ideas for Using the Dover Kids Origami Sets

Here are a few more tips and ideas for using the Dover kids origami sets: 

  • Buy them for Christmas gifts for kids and grandkids
  • Use them as read-alouds for homeschool morning time or before bed reading
  • Do origami as a mini 1:1 date with your child (that’s what we did!) 
  • Have some friends over and do origami together as a fun activity or homeschool gathering
  • Finish all the projects for a book and the kids can use them to act out the story (maybe even do a little video of it for themselves!)
  • Put finished projects on craft sticks and play with them like puppets
  • Have a Beauty and the Beast or Alice in Wonderland party and give this as a gift to the birthday boy or girl
  • Tack a string horizontally to your nursery or child’s bedroom and attach finished projects with clothes pins for decorations
  • Glue completed project pieces to a framed quote from one of the books and hang on the wall
  • Create a shadow box with a quote from the book and all the completed projects 
  • Glue completed project pieces to a hand-made gift card

What other fun ideas can you think of for these fabulous books? 

When you go to order these, you’ll want to check out ALL the fantastic children’s literature. Do a search for origami, too. If you’re like me, you’ll spend way too much time there but have loads of quality fun and educational gift ideas for your kids! 

 

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This Post Has 37 Comments

  1. Jackie S

    This would be a great thing for my mentally challenged son. He does puzzles and is a wiz at them but they get expensive. If he had these books he would be able to make things for people much faster and less expensive for him.

  2. Deborah D

    I think they would like the Evergreens Classic Complete Set and The Burgess Bird Book for Children.

  3. Mrs. Bacon

    Jules Verne ” Around the World in 80 days” and “The Snow Queen” Hans Christen Anderson.
    Those two are the ones I think I should do next.

    THank you for having such a creative giveaway!

  4. Amy

    Thank you for sharing!! I went to the dover site and saw a ton of books that I want. The Windy Hill will be a great stocking stuffer for sure.

  5. Janna

    This post is awsome! We have been using Dover in our homeschool for a long time. They have so many wonderful books! I now have my eye on these beautiful origami books as well as Jules Vern titles and Freckels perfict stocking stuffers. Thank you for letting us get a sneek peek at these beautiful books, and running an awsome givaway!

  6. Ildi

    A giveaway for the Anne of Green Gables series would be great!

  7. Cynthia willimon

    Thanks so much. I enjoy your emails.

  8. Melissa Slowik

    These books look great! I looked at the Dover site and the book “Spot the Differences Book 3:Art Masterpiece Mysteries” looks like fun too. That’s one I might have to order.

  9. Darlene Owen

    My grandson would love the book White Fang.

  10. Sara L

    There are so many choices! I enjoy the Dover coloring books, the Boost books, and I’d probably seek out some award winning stories that I am not familiar with personally.

  11. Mom2

    We would love the L.M. Montgomery books, like Anne of the Island. I loved these books as a child and it would be great to share these classics!

  12. Jackie

    Wow! I haven’t heard of Dover before but they have fantastic books! Thank you for bringing these books and website to my attention. I have readers in my family also and I think my 6 year old would enjoy the Raggedy Ann and Andy stories.

  13. Kathy

    I think the “Spot the Differences” activity book would be really neat!

  14. Heather Weatherspoon

    Dover’s list of the 100 greatest fiction books of all time is quiet impressive. Lots of choices there to keep you reading for days!

  15. tax_q

    I would also be interested in purchasing The Adventures of Peter Cottontail and The Velveteen Rabbit. Those are books I read when I was little.

  16. CD Can

    These books look amazing!

  17. Liz

    My kids like anything with stickers and we have lots of Dover historical coloring books.

  18. Jennifer Mathesz

    Love their coloring books

  19. Kate Tanaka

    I love the dover colouring and also the sticker books, they are a great way to fill in 10 minutes when boredom and snarlies strike! I think we would particularly like the cities colouring book.

  20. Lisa Clark

    Tales of Wise and Foolish Animals looks interesting to me, but I’m sure the kiddo would love any of the Code Breaker books.

  21. Lisa Clark

    Tales of Wise and Foolish Animals.

  22. Christy

    My kids would love the kite books.

  23. Lori Hooten

    Oh my! I love these and my daughter would flip for these! I think she would also enjoy the Pretty Ponies Paper Dolls set or any other origami book they have. Tons of things!

  24. Teressa

    The origami Horses book looked great! My girls are all about horses lately.

  25. Mindy

    Thanks for a chance to win!

  26. Ticia

    I love their history coloring books.

  27. Kimberley

    My oldest daughter just loves origami!

  28. Lindsay

    My sons LOVE A Christmas Carol. It would be really fun to have the interactive partto go along with the story.

  29. Kelly H.

    I would definitely love to purchase the Tanks and Armored Vehicles book for my son (who is extremely interested in the World Wars and tanks that they used).

  30. Katie

    There are lots of great choices. I think my kids would love TOO MANY Mittens

  31. Marion

    I would like “A Christmas Carol” and “Too Many Mittens”.
    Marion

  32. Teresa W

    There are so many good classics! I know my girls would love Treasure Island or Wizard of Oz, and those are two of many on our to-read list.

  33. Michelle Grosso

    Thank you for introducing Dover. I would be interested in checking out the coloring books as well! My kids love origami and books would be better than YouTubing and searching on the internet all the time.

  34. Heidi

    We have used several of Dover’s coloring books as a way to learn homeschool history and geography. We love history and i know my son would love the We Were There series. I love books that bring history to life for kids. I also love the selection of classics Dover has. I saw many we’ve read and a few we still need to get to. I love these origami books. They are beautifully done and the idea of combining these two great books with a hands on craft is just awesome. Love everything about it!

  35. becky

    i’d love to check out the heavenly tenants

  36. Judith Martinez

    I would love to add copies of more classic literature to our home library. I also think the Nine Days to Christmas book looks interesting.

  37. Nita Barnes

    These are seriously cool! Thanks for this opportunity!

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