Origami（日式手折纸）is the traditional Japanese art of paper folding, which started in the 17th century.It has developed into a modern art form since then. The goal（目标）of this art is to make the paper into different kinds of things through folding techniques（技术）. In general, origami begins with a square piece of paper. Many people enjoy making origami flowers, animals, or toys. For all of these things, sometimes you need to fold the paper in half, sometimes fold the paper from corner to corner, or you may need to fold the tips of each corner.

If you follow the directions carefully, you can have a beautiful paper flower, animal, or toy. It is a reflection（反映）of nature and Japanese life. That is why the most popular origami shapes look like animals, birds, fish, flowers, and stars. The best known origami model is probably the Japanese paper crane（纸鹤）.The crane is lucky in the Japanese culture. It is said that anyone who folds one thousand paper cranes will achieve their dreams. The origami crane has become a symbol of peace because of this.

Origami is a peaceful activity and it is good for your mind. It needs a lot of attention. When people think hard about folding something, they forget about their problems. This lets them to be patient. Origami is also good for teaching children. Origami has many steps. Children must follow these steps carefully. At the same time, they may learn something about math. For example, origami has different shapes which are important in math.