Origami fever    

Fifth grader Liam Smith is making origami and loving it. Origami is the traditional Japanese art of folding a piece of paper into a variety of shapes, but to Smith, it is more than that.

“Origami is a relaxing hobby, and when you are finished you have a cool origami figure,” Smith said. “I like to make origami in my room or somewhere where it is quiet and has a hard surface.”

As his dog Sally barks in the background, Smith said, “I make a lot of animals I’d like as pets either because they are imaginary or I am not allowed to have them.”

As much as he loves origami, Smith is also an animal lover.

“I want to have a lizard, a python, or a dragon,” he said. “I learned to make origami when I was in fourth grade and started to read a book called Origami Yoda,” Smith explained.

He has his feelings about origami as well: “I feel like it is calming but also sometimes it can be frustrating when you can’t fold it.”

“I have never done it, but I love that Liam does it because I think it is mentally stimulating,” Megan Smith, his mom, said. “I think he read the first origami book at school, but then his family got him more for his birthday. I really love the dragons Liam makes.”