Spring is coming up quickly and with spring, we must be prepared for the rain! Thankfully March is also Umbrella Month! In honor of that, we invite you to make these colorful origami umbrellas with us! Follow the instructions below to create your own umbrella!

Materials:

  • 8 square pieces of paper (can be different colors or the same)

  • Glue stick 

Instructions:

Step 1: Begin with 1 sheet of square paper.

Step 2:  Fold the paper in half forming a triangle.

Step 3: Undo the fold you’ve just done. When you open the paper back out, take the left side and fold it onto the middle seam you’ve just created.

Step 4: Reopen the paper and fold it in half into a triangle once again.

Step 5: Take the top tip of the triangle and fold it along the new seam you’ve just created. 

Step 6: Take the top layer of the triangle you’ve just created and bend it back. 

Step 7: Open the bottom triangle and place the piece you just folded back into the pocket. 

Step 8: Repeat steps 1-7 with 6 more pieces of paper.

Step 9: Now take two pieces of your folded paper and place the small triangle into the pocket.

Step 10: Fold the excess over the flap and repeat this process with the other 5 pieces. 

Step 11: When you have your final piece insert it into the first piece the same way. Now you have completed the top portion of your umbrella!

Step 12: To make the handle, take a piece of paper and roll it diagonally into a tight stem. When you reach the end place some glue on the paper before placing the last flap down to secure it in place.

Step 13: Using the tip of a pencil or toothpick, insert a hole into the center of the top portion of your umbrella.

Step 14: Place your stem through your hole until you have a small section sticking through the top.

Step 15: For our final step, cut a piece of paper as wide as the piece sticking up through the top of your umbrella. Wrap the cut piece around this section and secure it by gluing the first piece onto the stem and the last piece.

“Pictures can say a thousand words… but sometimes it’s easier to see how it’s done! Please check out the original video “How to Make an Umbrella for Kids” on Youtube for more detailed instructions.
Image Credit: All still images by Craft with Sahar via How to make an Umbrella for kids | Youtube.”

 You can also check out these wonderful picture books related to umbrellas!

Jonas Hanway’s scurrilous, scandalous, shockingly sensational umbrella by Josh Crute

Sometimes in London it drizzles. Sometimes it mizzles. Other times it pelts and showers and spits. And Jonas Hanway hates getting wet. How can he go about his day as a proper London gentleman when his shoes are soggy, his coat is always collecting puddles, and his wig looks like a wet cat? Fed up with damp and dreary London, Jonas sails far away, to places where the sun always shines. But what he sees when he gets there is … scandalous! Shocking! Sensational! Perhaps also … quite genius? Now, all Jonas has to do is convince the rest of London that they need an umbrella, too. 

Under the Umbrella by Catherine Buquet and Marion Arbona

When a grumpy man loses his umbrella on a cold and windy day, he stops to share a treat with a small boy.

The Umbrella by Jan Brett

Carlos goes into the cloud forest to look for animals, but he manages to miss seeing them even though they have an adventure with his umbrella.

The Umbrella by Ingrid & Dieter Schubert

A little dog finds an umbrella in the garden on a windy day. The moment the dog picks up the umbrella, it catches the wind and pulls the dog skywards. This is the start to a fantastic journey around the world. The wind carries the umbrellas and the dog all over the world, from the desert to the sea, from the jungle to the North Pole.

The Green Umbrella by Jackie Azúa Kramer

When Elephant takes a quiet stroll with his green umbrella, he is hindered by Hedgehog, Cat, Bear, and Rabbit, each asserting that his umbrella is truly their boat, tent, flying machine, and cane.

The Big Umbrella by Amy June Bates

A spacious umbrella welcomes anyone and everyone who needs shelter from the rain.

Floop’s New Umbrella by Carole Tremblay 

Floop tries to find his friends to show them his new umbrella, but when it begins to rain, his friends find him.

The Umbrella by Lisa Lebedovich

A beautiful book about how the power of friendship can help overcome fears.

This Beautiful Day by Richard Jackson

Undaunted by the rainy weather, three children take their happiness outside and seem to chase the clouds away as they jump, skip, and dance together.

The Umbrella Queen by Shirin Yim Bridges

In a village in Thailand where everyone makes umbrellas, young Noot dreams of painting the most beautiful one and leading the annual parade as Umbrella Queen, but her unconventional designs displease her parents.

The Thingamabob by Il Sung Na

An elephant finds a “thingamabob” and experiments until he discovers what to do with it.