The Leaping Frog Contest

The Leaping Frog Contest

1The art room at Maple Grove Elementary, after school. Squares of paper cover two long tables. MS. OKAFOR, the origami club leader, holds up a small green paper frog.

2MS. OKAFOR: Today we are folding jumping frogs. At four o'clock, we will hold a contest to see whose frog jumps the farthest. You may fold as many frogs as you like.

3THEO: (grabbing a tall stack of paper) As many as I like? Then I'll fold ten! One of them is sure to be a champion.

4WREN: (taking a single square and smoothing it flat) I'm folding just one. I want to get every step right.

5THEO folds quickly, pressing each crease with the side of his hand. He tosses every finished frog onto a pile. WREN studies the diagram on the board, folds one corner, and lines it up again and again.

6THEO: Wren, you've been on step two for five minutes. At this rate, your frog will hatch next year!

7WREN: (frowning, but she keeps folding) Fast isn't the same as good, Theo.

8At four o'clock, the students set their frogs behind a strip of tape on the floor. THEO presses the back of his first frog. It tips over sideways. His second frog barely moves. His third frog comes apart into a crumpled square.

9THEO: (groaning) I guess ten floppy frogs aren't better than one good one.

10WREN presses the back of her frog. It springs forward and lands past the last table leg. The club cheers.

11MS. OKAFOR: Wren's frog wins! Look how sharp her creases are. Sharp folds are what give a paper frog its spring.

12THEO: (quietly) How did you get your folds so crisp?

13WREN: (holding up her thumb) Run your thumbnail along each fold, like this. Check the diagram before every step, too. But you were brave to try so many. I was too nervous about wasting paper to fold more than one.

14THEO: Will you fold the next one with me? I'll go slow if you go a little faster.

15WREN: (smiling and sliding a square across the table) Deal. Let's make the next champion together.