Anyone who has tired to make an origami insect will find that they can get pretty complicated! The reason this is so is because bugs have many appendages. These include three body parts, six legs, two antennae, two or more bug eyes, and specialized structures such as stingers, pincers, and mouth pieces. That’s a lot of stuff to make from a single sheet of paper. How are we going to accomplish this?
Some expert origami artists will go to great lengths to fold and contort a sheet of paper into a realistic creature. Half of this is because they have access to large sheets of thin, pliable, resilient paper. The other half is because they have skill, patience, and tenacity. Bravo!
For the rest of us, there are tricks to bypass the pain. For example, it is useful to choose an appropriate color of paper (red for ladybugs, green for grasshoppers, yellow for bees etc). You can simplify the insect so that it has the “general look” of an insect but it is not anatomically correct. Another option is to cut the paper so you get more sections to make the different body parts. A third option is to use two sheets of paper: one for the front of the insect and one for the back of the insect, combine the two and you’re good to go. Using an appropriate color of paper is good and coloring or enhancing the model with details also helps. Click onto one of the images below to get started.
Easy Ladybug
Easy Bee
Easy Fly
Easy Bug
Segmented Bug
Dragonfly
Traditional Dragonfly
Traditional Cicada