Origami, a wonderful teaching aid

I have been folding paper since I was a little boy. Today I still love folding those wonderful boats, boxes, birds and anything that can be used for teaching English. All my kindergarten students become experts in origami by the time they go to elementary school. Here are just a few that were lying around the house. Until the next post, keep folding.

wonderful origami boxes, great for teaching English

these very simple origami animals are great for teaching English in kindergarten

more traditional origami and a Robert Sabuda pop-up mammoth card

4 cm paper origami folded by Lee-Kuo

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Mini miniature golf, hole 8

This is the second hole Lee-Kuo finished during the winter vacation, it’s hole no. 8 and it’s called the turnstile. Until the next hole, happy putting.

this is hole no. 8 in the mini golf series and it's called "Turnstile"

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Popsicle stick companion cube

I made this lovely cube after I had finished my matchstick cube. It uses the same battery and LED set-up as my paper lamps. There is tracing paper inside the cube to give a diffused glow. It’s a very simple and easy to make craft using the 5.5 cm sticks. Download the instructions with template from the downloads page, have fun.

a very simple popsicle companion cube

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Miniature mini golf, hole 18

Once again the winter vacation is a time for woodwork and Lee-Kuo has started his mini golf in miniature once again. This is called “V” for victory and is hole 18. Until the next hole, good putting.

"V" for victory is hole 18 in this lovely wooden mini golf series

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Popsicle stick night lamp

This is the first project to be completed this winter vacation. As soon as Lee-Kuo was home he began making this beautiful lamp. These lovely kits are really nice to make for family and friends, here is the website to buy all sorts of crafts in Taiwan. Crafts in Taiwan

a lovely popsicle stick house, made by Lee-Kuo

this style of house reminds us of life in Germany

a lovely orange glow fills the room at night

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Make your own cardboard iMac keyboard

This is the keyboard for the iMac which I made for a student drama. You can find the iMac elsewhere on my blog and download a pdf to make it yourself. The keyboard was very easy to construct but took a long time cutting and gluing all the keys. Download the pdf and start making your iMac with keyboard today.

print the ribs and edges and cut them

glue the bottom onto the edges and ribs, this gives it strength

showing the underside

trim the underside

glue the topside to the frame

trim the topside

spray with silver paint

glue on the keys

the completed cardboard keyboard

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Make your own cardboard 21.5″ iMac

I was asked by some students to help them in a drama competition and they needed an iMac for the stage, so I decided to make a cardboard model for the drama. It was very simple to design and make except for the stand which was a little more complicated. I will put a pdf on the downloads page if anyone needs to make an iMac, it contains all the necessary parts to print-out and put together.

I began by cutting the ribs from my print-outs and assembling them

I then glued the ribs onto the front

the edges of the mac were then glued on

gluing the back was not easy and needed 2 cuts and 4 hands

next I cut out the edges and the shape of the stand

the stand after the edges were glued on

extra ribs for strength and the hole now appears

the front is added and the stand is now ready for spraying

the completed stand after being sprayed with silver paint

a few small details on the back of the monitor

the completed iMac with a B/W screen print-out

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Popsicle stick pencil holder

Just before the end of the last semester I decided to let the students make another popsicle project. I designed the holder around the square base so the whole thing was completely improvised as we made it. The students enjoyed it and they all got an eraser and a 2B pencil from their teacher.

a very quick improvised popsicle stick pencil holder

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