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How to fold an origami aardvark

Fold a kite body with a long thin snout end, slit four short legs, crimp both halves down into an arch and the snout down again. A folded pink ear stands behind.

You need: 1 grey-pink square (15 cm), a small pink square (5 cm), scissors, glue and a black pen. Hard, 22 steps, about 35 minutes.

Steps

  1. Crease the middle. White side up, turned like a diamond, fold the top corner down to the bottom corner, crease and unfold.
  2. Kite. Fold the top and bottom edges at the left end in to lie along the middle crease, like a kite. The left end will be the aardvark's head.
  3. Narrow the tail end. Fold the edges at the right point in on creases from the point to 6.8 cm above and below the middle crease. That end is the tail.
  4. Tummy corners. Fold the top and bottom corners in on creases 3.1 cm above and below the middle crease. They will be hidden inside.
  5. Fold in half. Fold the top half down onto the bottom half along the middle crease. The long fold on top is the back, the flat bottom is the tummy.
  6. Crease a strip. Fold the bottom edge up 0.8 cm, all layers together, and crease it hard. This strip gives the legs.
  7. Open it. Unfold the strip again.
  8. Slit the legs. Cut along the strip crease from the front end in 3.5 cm, and from the back end in 3.5 cm.
  9. Front legs. Swing the front strip down on slanted creases from its inner end, the front layers forward and the back ones behind, a little apart.
  10. Back legs. Swing the back strip down the same way. Now the aardvark stands on four legs.
  11. Arch: front crease. Fold the front half over on an upright crease just right of the middle, all layers together.
  12. Arch: front crimp. Fold it back on a crease slanting from the same top point, so the front end bends down. That's a crimp.
  13. Arch: back crease. Fold the back end over on an upright crease 2.3 cm right of the middle.
  14. Arch: back crimp. Fold it back on a crease slanting the other way, so the back end bends down too. Now the back arches high.
  15. Snout: crease. Fold the snout over on a crease straight across it, 4.6 cm from its tip.
  16. Snout: crimp. Fold it back on a crease from the same top point, slanting a little, so the long snout points down to sniff the ground.
  17. Snout tip. Fold the very tip of the snout behind, about 8 mm, so it ends in a blunt round nose.
  18. Ear: new sheet. Take the small pink square, white side up, turned like a diamond.
  19. Ear: triangle. Fold the bottom corner up to the top corner.
  20. Ear: in half. Fold the left corner over to the right corner.
  21. Ear: narrow it. Fold the slanted edge over onto the upright edge, on a crease from the top point. Now the ear is tall and thin.
  22. Glue on the ear. Glue the ear behind the back of the head, so it stands up tall like a rabbit's ear.

Snuffle, aardvark!

Draw a small shiny eye on the head and a dark nostril at the tip of the snout.

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