Hopping into history: Chinese schoolboy lands Guinness record with tiny origami frog feat

An 11-year-old schoolboy from China has leapt into the Guinness World Records after his thumbnail-sized origami frog jumped an astonishing 2.52 m, shattering the previous world record by over a meter.

Liang Chenhao, a student at Chongwen Primary School Affiliated to Guilin Normal College in Guilin, achieved this milestone using a tiny three-by-three-centimeter piece of standard A4 printing paper. To maximize the frog's jumping distance, Chenhao spent five months engineering a unique layered Z-shaped fold designed to store substantial elastic energy upon impact.

Footage captured on Tuesday shows Chenhao proudly displaying his Guinness World Records certificate, followed by scenes of him folding a small piece of paper into a 3D frog shape and launching it from a table resembling a tape measure to show distance.

Teacher Li Wei elaborated on the dedication and research behind the success.

"Before the Guinness challenge, we conducted targeted and in-depth training. We practised folding methods, placement positions, and pressing strength separately. On certification day, the paper frog jumped impressively in the first two tries but landed outside the valid area. The anticipation built as everyone waited for the third try in total silence. However, Liang Chenhao remained calm. In his third attempt, the paper frog jumped 2.52 meters successfully."

Li added, "I felt exhilarated at first. I never dreamed we could achieve a Guinness World Record... Now, all teachers, students, and parents are aware of our record-breaking success. People realize that Guinness records are no longer out of reach; even an 11-year-old student can break a world record, inspiring others to challenge themselves."

To enhance the jumping performance of the paper frog, Chenhao and teacher Li studied paper stress, crease angles, and center of gravity balance.

After hundreds of trials and adjustments, they optimized folding techniques and jumping mechanics, fine-tuning every detail to achieve this historic breakthrough.

School principal Deng Xingyuan expressed pride in the accomplishment, noting, "Our education idea is to let every child show their true beauty, develop their personality and discover their talent. Our professional teachers love science education and devote themselves to teaching. This is the key reason for such an achievement."

Prior to the Guinness challenge, Chenhao had already secured several championships in paper frog jumping competitions at the city and regional levels in Guilin and Guangxi.

Chenhao received his official Guinness World Record certification in June, and his leap comfortably surpasses the jumping capabilities of many real frogs.