In a relaxed atmosphere, the children learnt from our art therapist Sarah Uessem what can be made from a sheet of paper. can fold: Cats, rabbits, dogs, fish, hearts, flowers and much more!

Sarah reports: "Folding origami with children doesn't mean folding as many figures as possible in a short space of time, but giving the children the opportunity to let off steam creatively and play with their figures. Only when they are ready do I fold the next figure with them, which they can choose themselves. This way, they don't feel pressurised and retain their enjoyment of paper folding. It's especially nice to see that the children love to draw faces on their figures and make up stories to go with them."

The skills that origami characterises are just as varied as the paper figures: creativity and imagination are stimulated, patience is taught in a playful way and stress is reduced. It has also been proven that origami promotes spatial thinking, fine motor skills and concentration, activates both hemispheres of the brain and trains the coordination of both hands. The ability to recognise geometric shapes and patterns is also strengthened when folding paper.

And the highlight came at the end! A small cup was folded and a 'catch-the-ball game' was created with string and beads, which the children were then allowed to colour according to their own preferences. Sometimes it doesn't take more than a few sheets of coloured paper to have a fun and creative afternoon. "It was a lot of fun!"

Thank you very much, dear Sarah.

Thanks to Children's aid organisation Global-Care Foundation, The Paritätische Wohlfahrtsverband - General Association, Aktion Deutschland Hilft and all private donors for their fantastic support.

Klaudia Skodnik and the Fortuna helps team

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