How Your Kid Can Help Japan And Learn A Lesson In Giving
Helping Japan rebuild.
Thousands of kids are set to make a big impact on Japan by folding paper. Your family can do it too. All you need is a piece of paper.
Children all over the world are creating paper cranes, a sacred creature in Japanese culture.
According to legend, anyone who folds a thousand paper cranes will be granted a wish by a crane.
That’s why the Bezos Family Foundation has made a commitment to donate $2 for every paper crane that is made (up to $200,000 total) to fund Architecture for Humanity’s rebuilding efforts in Japan.
The effort is part of “Paper Cranes for Japan,” a Students Rebuild-DoSomething.org co-sponsored campaign to inspire young people worldwide to support Japan through the creation of 100,000 origami cranes.
According to an article in USA Today, the kids are doing great so far.
Seven schools in Haiti are making cranes, representing more than 1,000 kids folding for Japan; more than 7,000 young people posted origami cranes and wishes of support on the “Paper Cranes for Japan” Facebook page; and Students Rebuild has had more than 200 requests for mailing labels to send in cranes from more than 15 different countries including Romania and New Zealand. This all happened in one week.
“We believe young people are uniquely poised to affect the world’s most pressing problems,” says Bezos Family Foundation President Jackie Bezos in a news release. “They’re often overlooked as a source of talent and solutions.”
For more information on “Paper Cranes for Japan,” head to the Students Rebuild website or visit the campaign’s Facebook page.
Here is a YouTube video that explains how to make your own paper crane:
We just did this at Girl Scouts last night! It was loads of fun and we made tons of cranes and we got a chance to talk about Japan and all of the tragedy that has occurred there. I posted about it on my blog http://ontheroadlesstaken.blogspot.com/2011/03/origami-paper-cranes-for-japan-girl.html
i was able to follow all the way to the legs, but it got a little muddled as to what was being done. i tried going back and forth but was still unable to see exactly where the folds were after that.