Paper Crafts

Being able to create something out of paper just by folding it is a cool craft in itself – but even more cool when it jumps!

Start with a square of paper. Fold the opposite sides together, unfold and repeat with the other sides. You will now have two creases going across the square.

Fold each of the four corners to the center where the crease cross each other.

Fold the two top edges to the center line.

Fold the triangle at the bottom up.

Fold the two bottom corners to the middle of the bottom edge.

Fold the bottom section up.

On that section you just folded up – fold the top half of it back down to make the frog’s legs.

Fold a small part of the top point down to create the head. Add some eyes so she can see where she is going.

To help her jump, push down near the bottom and slide your finger away from the frog.

This is one of the most classic paper crafts for children – the simple folded paper hat that can even be made from newspaper.

But when I sat down to make one with my daughter – my mind went blank – despite having made them many times many years ago – it had gone! As I needed to look it up on the internet, I thought there may be one or two others out there as forgetful as me who also may appreciate some instructions.

Start off with a rectangle or oblong shape piece of paper.

Fold it in half.

Fold the corners across to the center. They will not go all the way to the bottom – this is correct.

Fold up the bottom sections of paper and you have a hat, simple as that!

This fish takes just TWO FOLDS! Once the children have those two folds mastered they can make and ocean full of fish. Give them lots of different sizes of square paper to make a school of fish. The two folds only need to be approximately as marked in the pictures.

	The first fold is on an angle, the line that is folded is drawn here.
	Once it is folded it looks like this.
	The second, and final fold, is along the line marked.
	This is the back off the fish after both folds have been made.
	Turn it over and it is starting to look rather fishy.
	Completely fishy now!

This is a simple origami paper craft for children that can be adapted to many different critters or fantasy creatures.

	Cut a square from a sheet of colored paper, we used photocopy sized paper. You can choose to use a larger square of paper and you will get a bigger snapper than the one pictured. The narrow strip of paper is our off-cut.
	Fold the square sheet of paper in half. Fold each side in half so you end up with a zig zag fold in the paper.
	Flatten all the folds so you are left with a skinny rectangle. On the first section fold the corners in on a diagonal to form a triangle.
	Repeat this on the middle section …
	… and then again on the last section so that all the sections are folded to the same shape.
	Find the center point on the longest side and using a pencil make a mark about 12 mm (0.5″) in from the edge. Cut up to the mark through all the layers of paper.
	Fold back long triangles from the cut to the outer point. This creates the lips or gums of the snapper. Pull the sides apart.
	Fold over so the points meet and make a beak or mouth shape. I pinch the back of this to encourage it to stay folded so it does keep springing fully open.
	Decorate as you wish. I cut teeth from white card …
	… and a curly tongue from red paper, but you can use you imagination to create any creature you like. Maybe big lips for a gorilla or a hanging tongue for a dog. Whiskers and ears for a mouse or fangs for a bat.

Download the printable version of the Tutorial – PDF Worksheet – Paper Snapper