Easy origami: Step-by-step instructions for making modular shapes

Literally speaking, orgami is the art of paper folding. In Japanese, ‘ori’ means folding and ‘gami’ means paper. Origami is not just folding paper to fit in a pocket, it’s about folding paper into different designs like birds, butterflies, flowers, dogs, cats, and even Pokémon. It can range from very basic objects like birds to extremely complex models like boxes that can open and hold things. Origami paper comes in different sizes.  Here are different objects that can be made with origami paper.  

Flapping Butterfly

Take a square origami paper of 8’’ or 10’’. Put the colour side down and fold the bottom half to the top half. Make sure the edges meet and then unfold. Fold the top and bottom edges to the centre. Fold all four corners in such a way that their edges meet at the centre horizontal crease. Fold down the top half. Now fold the centre of the bottom half to the top half. Crease about one inch (2.5 cm) of the centre only with your fingernail. Do not crease all the way. Remove your finger and there should be a crease in the centre only. Turn the paper over. Place a finger on top of the centre and, with another hand, wrap the paper snugly around your finger. Remove your finger and you will see a loop. Use fingernail and poke the centre of the bottom of the loop. With your forefinger and thumb, grab both ends of the loopholes and pinch them together. Pinch and release to flap the butterfly.

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Origami Cap

Start by dividing a 8.5x11 inch paper in two. Only half of the paper will be used. With the colour side up, fold paper half on the vertical axis. Crease well and unfold. Fold paper half on the horizontal axis. Take the right and left corners and fold them to meet in the centre. Make the horizontal valley fold. Crease well and unfold. Flip the paper and fold down the top tip. Make the horizontal valley fold. Remember to fold the upper layer only. Now flip the paper over and make 4 diagonal folds. Fold up the bottom half. Pry the paper open and your origami army cap is complete.

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Origami Boat

Take a rectangular piece of paper. Fold it in half as shown. Then fold it again partially, making a crease near the top. The crease will help you line up the corners that you fold down. Now fold each edge of the paper upwards as shown. Use your fingers to open it up into a hat. Bring the edge of the corners towards each other. The edges of the brim will be pushed outwards. Take one lower corner of the square and fold it upwards. Flip the piece over and do the same for the other corner. The result is a folded triangle. Open up the triangle and bring the corners together again. Squash the triangle into a square. Pull out the corners of the square, one in each hand. Keep pulling to unfold your boat.

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