Make 3 simple origami animals

Origami penguin, fox and whale

 

You will need:

  • 3 square sheets of paper
  • A pencil or pen
  • Scissors

 

Make an origami whale

1. Fold the paper in half diagonally and make a firm crease before unfolding.

2. Lay the paper down with the crease running vertically. Fold one corner in to meet the crease and press down on the new crease you’ve made. Repeat with the opposite corner.

3. Fold over the top corner of your kite shape to meet the other folds.

4. Fold the paper in half along the crease you made in step 1 and press down firmly.

6. With the longest edge running horizontally, pick up the pointed end and bring it upwards to create a crease at a point about 1/3 of the way along. This is the whale’s tail and its long edge should be at 90 degrees to the bottom of the whale’s body.

7. Unfold the crease that you made in step 6 and re-crease it in the opposite direction.

8. Slightly open out the whale’s body so that you can use the creases you made in steps 6 & 7 to push the tail section inside the body.

9. Use scissors to snip about 2cm along the centre crease of the tail. This will allow you to fold out the flukes of the whale’s tail.

10. Finish by adding an eye to each side of your whale.

 

Make an origami penguin

1. Fold the paper in half diagonally and make a firm crease before unfolding.

2. Lay the paper down with the crease running vertically and fold up the bottom tip.

3. Fold the paper in half along the vertical crease (the bottom tip should be tucked inside)

4. With the straight edge created in step 2 at the bottom, fold back one layer of paper to create your penguin’s wing. Repeat on the other side.

5. Take the tip of the penguin and fold it down to create the head shape. Unfold and then refold this crease in the opposite direction.

6. Open out the body of the penguin so that you can use the creases you made in step 5 to pop the head forward so that it surrounds the top of the body (it will continue to face the same way as it did in previous steps).

 

Make an origami fox

1. Fold the paper in half diagonally and make a firm crease before unfolding.

2. With the long edge running horizontally, fold one corner up to meet the top of the paper and crease. Repeat on the other side and you will have made a diamond shape.

3. Fold the shape in half by pushing each half of the diamond backwards. Create a firm crease.

4. Lay your shape down so that the folded edge which was the bottom right-hand side of your diamond in step 2 is horizontal along the bottom.

5. Take hold of the top 4 layers of paper and create a vertical crease about 1cm in from the edge.

6. Fold down the raised flap you created in step 5. This is your fox’s head.

7. Fold the paper behind your fox’s body in the opposite direction to create a firm crease.

8. Lay your fox face down and gently fold a small diagonal crease from under the ears to the bottom of the body on both sides.

9. Create a fold in the fox’s tale at 90 degrees to the bottom edge. This will help you fox sit upright.

10. Finish by adding a nose and eyes in pen. You may also like to gently press down on your fox’s ears to open them up a little.