Orihime and Hikoboshi, characters in a famous legend associated with the Japanese festival Tanabata, are the inspiration for these origami art pieces made by elementary students in Japan.  Art is heavily integrated into the Japanese elementary school curriculum, as illustrated by this project that involved teaching literacy, math, and art.

Origami Club has free, printable instructions for making origami Orihime and Hikoboshi, in addition to other traditional Tanabata shapes.

For more Tanabata activities, see our Tanabata lesson plan.

Photo courtesy of Britt Williams, taken July 2008.