How to Make a Paper Penguin
Purchase origami paper., Fold diagonal creases along the middle., Fold the lower left corner to the center., Fold the upper right corner to the crease you just made., Turn the page over., Fold the left corner to the right corner., Fold the bottom...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Purchase origami paper.
This method calls for just a single sheet of 6” x 6” origami paper.
If you want a larger penguin, then you can easily go for 12” x 12” paper, but you’ll have to multiply any directions containing measurements by two.
If you want an even better looking penguin, buy paper that is white on one side and black on the other., To start, you want to place the sheet of origami paper flat (with the white side facing up if you have paper with a black side as well).
Then fold the paper in half diagonally so the bottom left corner is flush with the top right corner and make a crease.
Unfold the paper and do the same with the opposite corners, and then unfold the page again.When you unfold the sheet again, you will have creases forming a large X across the page., With the page flat again and the large creases making an X, you will then take the lower left corner of the paper and fold it so that the tip of the corner touches the center of the page.
In other words, the corner edge will touch the center of the X made by the earlier creases.Flatten the folded portion and make another crease, then open the sheet so it’s flat again. , You will now have the large X crease as well as a smaller diagonal crease in the lower left of the page.
Take the top right corner of the page and fold it over so that it touches the lower left crease.Then open the page once more. , For the next set of folds, you’ll need to turn the page over.
If you have two-colored paper, this means that the black side will now faces up.
When you turn the paper over, orient it diagonally so that the current lower left corner now points up., With the paper in the new orientation, take the corner pointing left and fold the paper in half so that it’s flush with the corner pointing right.There will already be a crease here from when you made this fold on the other side of the sheet, but you’ll need to crease it in the opposite direction when you fold it over. , From the last step, the sheet will now look like a triangle with the side on the left forming a vertical line.
Take the corner of the triangle that points down and fold it across at a 45° angle.Fold it so that the horizontal edge made at the top of the fold touches the lower crease already on this part of the page—not the middle crease but the one below it.Once you’ve made the crease from this fold, turn the flap back over so that you have the same triangle shape you started with. , A reverse fold is a bit more three-dimensional than the other folds you’ve made so far.
In order to make the reverse fold, take the crease you just made and crease it in the opposite direction, but make the crease by folding and tucking the corner into the paper.Since reverse folds can be hard to visualize as written instructions, you can find the exact fold in question here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHQMzLUQMmg#t=80. , With the reverse fold out of the way, you want to take the corner pointing right—just the top layer not both layers—and fold it back on itself.
Fold it so that the flat side just above the corner lines up flush with the flat vertical line on the left side of the paper.Make a crease here, but do not unfold the flap.
Leave it folded. , You now want to turn the paper over completely and make the same fold you just made but from the other side.
In other words, fold the other corner (the bottom layer from the previous step) over so that its upper edge is also flush with the same flat side of the page.Especially if you’re using a two-colored sheet of paper, this step will make more sense because the form of the penguin will start to become more apparent as the black side of the page will face outward on both sides.
As the project continues to take shape, these will be the wings. , To prepare for the next major fold, you will need to turn the whole paper over again.
When you do, you want to orient the paper so that the really narrow point is pointing upward., With the paper oriented so that the long, narrow point face up, take that point and fold it over at a 45° angle so that the point now points to the left.You’ll see how this fold starts to take shape as the penguin’s beak.
After making the crease in this fold, return the point to the upward position. , This step requires you to make an outside reverse fold along the crease you made in the last step.
An outside reverse fold is slightly different from the earlier reverse fold.
To make the fold, unfold the paper along the black side slightly, and poke your finger from the white side at the fold you made in the last step.
When the creases reverse direction, simply reform the fold so that the two black sides of the sheet are in contact again.Once again, reverse folds can be a bit difficult to describe.
You can find the exact movement at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHQMzLUQMmg#t=127. , Though clearly visible now, the wings won’t quite look perfect yet.
Take the wing on the side facing up and fold it over so that the white side faces out.
You’ll fold it back so that the corner which was facing the bottom left now points to the right.
Pull it back far enough so that it’s just shy of where the little tail is at the bottom of the paper., Once you’ve made the crease from the previous step, fold the wing back over on itself so that the black side is once again facing up.
Fold it so that the tip of the corner is just shy of touching the horizontal white edge at the bottom of the body., To make the rabbit’s ear fold, lift the portion of the wing you just folder and reverse the crease from the last step, but only at the bottom of the crease and only at the depth of roughly the tip of your finger.
This will makes the bottom tip of the wing into a little flap though the flat edge will still be parallel to the rest of the wing.As with the other complex folds, a visual can help, which you will find here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHQMzLUQMmg#t=156. , With one wing complete, you’re ready to turn the page over and repeat the same steps to form the other wing.
Simply use the same folds from steps 14-16 but on the other side., The bottom of the penguin will still have points sticking out in a slightly misshapen way.
Fold each of these points toward the inside of the penguin to make a flat, horizontal bottom to the body.Once you tuck these flaps up, you have your penguin! -
Step 2: Fold diagonal creases along the middle.
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Step 3: Fold the lower left corner to the center.
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Step 4: Fold the upper right corner to the crease you just made.
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Step 5: Turn the page over.
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Step 6: Fold the left corner to the right corner.
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Step 7: Fold the bottom corner over to the right.
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Step 8: Reverse-fold the corner along the crease you just made.
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Step 9: Fold the top half over.
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Step 10: Turn the page over and make the same fold on the other side.
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Step 11: Turn the paper over again.
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Step 12: Fold the narrow point over to the left.
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Step 13: Reverse-fold along the crease you just made.
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Step 14: Fold the wing over.
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Step 15: Fold the wing back over on itself.
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Step 16: Makes a rabbit’s ear fold.
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Step 17: Repeat steps 14-16 for the other wing.
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Step 18: Tuck in the points at the bottom.
Detailed Guide
This method calls for just a single sheet of 6” x 6” origami paper.
If you want a larger penguin, then you can easily go for 12” x 12” paper, but you’ll have to multiply any directions containing measurements by two.
If you want an even better looking penguin, buy paper that is white on one side and black on the other., To start, you want to place the sheet of origami paper flat (with the white side facing up if you have paper with a black side as well).
Then fold the paper in half diagonally so the bottom left corner is flush with the top right corner and make a crease.
Unfold the paper and do the same with the opposite corners, and then unfold the page again.When you unfold the sheet again, you will have creases forming a large X across the page., With the page flat again and the large creases making an X, you will then take the lower left corner of the paper and fold it so that the tip of the corner touches the center of the page.
In other words, the corner edge will touch the center of the X made by the earlier creases.Flatten the folded portion and make another crease, then open the sheet so it’s flat again. , You will now have the large X crease as well as a smaller diagonal crease in the lower left of the page.
Take the top right corner of the page and fold it over so that it touches the lower left crease.Then open the page once more. , For the next set of folds, you’ll need to turn the page over.
If you have two-colored paper, this means that the black side will now faces up.
When you turn the paper over, orient it diagonally so that the current lower left corner now points up., With the paper in the new orientation, take the corner pointing left and fold the paper in half so that it’s flush with the corner pointing right.There will already be a crease here from when you made this fold on the other side of the sheet, but you’ll need to crease it in the opposite direction when you fold it over. , From the last step, the sheet will now look like a triangle with the side on the left forming a vertical line.
Take the corner of the triangle that points down and fold it across at a 45° angle.Fold it so that the horizontal edge made at the top of the fold touches the lower crease already on this part of the page—not the middle crease but the one below it.Once you’ve made the crease from this fold, turn the flap back over so that you have the same triangle shape you started with. , A reverse fold is a bit more three-dimensional than the other folds you’ve made so far.
In order to make the reverse fold, take the crease you just made and crease it in the opposite direction, but make the crease by folding and tucking the corner into the paper.Since reverse folds can be hard to visualize as written instructions, you can find the exact fold in question here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHQMzLUQMmg#t=80. , With the reverse fold out of the way, you want to take the corner pointing right—just the top layer not both layers—and fold it back on itself.
Fold it so that the flat side just above the corner lines up flush with the flat vertical line on the left side of the paper.Make a crease here, but do not unfold the flap.
Leave it folded. , You now want to turn the paper over completely and make the same fold you just made but from the other side.
In other words, fold the other corner (the bottom layer from the previous step) over so that its upper edge is also flush with the same flat side of the page.Especially if you’re using a two-colored sheet of paper, this step will make more sense because the form of the penguin will start to become more apparent as the black side of the page will face outward on both sides.
As the project continues to take shape, these will be the wings. , To prepare for the next major fold, you will need to turn the whole paper over again.
When you do, you want to orient the paper so that the really narrow point is pointing upward., With the paper oriented so that the long, narrow point face up, take that point and fold it over at a 45° angle so that the point now points to the left.You’ll see how this fold starts to take shape as the penguin’s beak.
After making the crease in this fold, return the point to the upward position. , This step requires you to make an outside reverse fold along the crease you made in the last step.
An outside reverse fold is slightly different from the earlier reverse fold.
To make the fold, unfold the paper along the black side slightly, and poke your finger from the white side at the fold you made in the last step.
When the creases reverse direction, simply reform the fold so that the two black sides of the sheet are in contact again.Once again, reverse folds can be a bit difficult to describe.
You can find the exact movement at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHQMzLUQMmg#t=127. , Though clearly visible now, the wings won’t quite look perfect yet.
Take the wing on the side facing up and fold it over so that the white side faces out.
You’ll fold it back so that the corner which was facing the bottom left now points to the right.
Pull it back far enough so that it’s just shy of where the little tail is at the bottom of the paper., Once you’ve made the crease from the previous step, fold the wing back over on itself so that the black side is once again facing up.
Fold it so that the tip of the corner is just shy of touching the horizontal white edge at the bottom of the body., To make the rabbit’s ear fold, lift the portion of the wing you just folder and reverse the crease from the last step, but only at the bottom of the crease and only at the depth of roughly the tip of your finger.
This will makes the bottom tip of the wing into a little flap though the flat edge will still be parallel to the rest of the wing.As with the other complex folds, a visual can help, which you will find here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHQMzLUQMmg#t=156. , With one wing complete, you’re ready to turn the page over and repeat the same steps to form the other wing.
Simply use the same folds from steps 14-16 but on the other side., The bottom of the penguin will still have points sticking out in a slightly misshapen way.
Fold each of these points toward the inside of the penguin to make a flat, horizontal bottom to the body.Once you tuck these flaps up, you have your penguin!
About the Author
Jean Fisher
Writer and educator with a focus on practical pet care knowledge.
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