Paper Folds

Thus far, at summer school, I have incorporated "paper-folding" activities into two different lessons. I LOVE IT!!! Maybe it's the silly, crafty, "i-wanna-play-with-crayons" side of me, but I think the creative, hands-on, activities are great. It gives every student a chance to use his/her head, to use his/her imagination, and there are no "wrong" answers when you are being creative. Of course, each activity does involve problem solving, and needing to know equations. So, in that respect, some students do have a more difficult time than others. But, still - even the students who have trouble get a chance to enjoy math a little more. Some things I might change or be cautious of? I certainly don't want to treat the students like babies, so the more challenging and creative the activity, the better. Also, if I choose to use these activities during the school year, they will not be every day, and I will save them for the lessons that seem to take less time. The reason for this is, that while the students do benefit from being creative, I think the activities would be more beneficial once the students have a somewhat firm grasp on the knowledge content involved in the activity. If they're unclear on how to solve for a percent, me asking them to make a booklet about solving for a percent is somewhat pointless.