All models

How to fold an origami donkey

Fold a square in half, crease the legs and reverse-fold both ends back. Cut and slim the legs, drop the tail, lift the neck, crimp the long head down and glue on tall ears.

You need: A 15 cm square, grey on one side, and a 4 cm square of the same grey; scissors, a ruler and glue. Hard, 17 steps, about 30 minutes.

Steps

  1. Fold in half. White side up, fold the top edge down to the bottom edge. The fold at the top is the donkey's back.
  2. Crease the legs. Fold the left end over on an upright crease 3.1 cm from the left edge, and the right end behind on one 8.1 cm from the right edge.
  3. Open them. Unfold both ends again. The two creases mark the inside edges of the legs.
  4. Ends back. Outside-reverse-fold the right end back over the body 6.6 cm from the right edge, and the left end 1.6 cm from the left edge.
  5. Cut the strips. Cut along both end folds, keeping 2.1 cm at the top right and 7 mm at the left, 2.2 cm down. Trim the flaps to strips, the right one 1.8 cm deep at its tip.
  6. Shape the nose. Snip the bottom corner off the neck strip's tip: from 1.4 cm below the top fold on the tip, to the bottom edge 9 mm in.
  7. Cut the legs. Cut up both leg creases to 3.8 cm below the top fold. Cut the belly between them in a shallow curve, 4.5 cm below the fold in the middle.
  8. Slim the legs. Trim each leg narrower toward the hoof: slant the back and chest edges in 4 mm at the bottom, the inside edges 2.5 mm. Snip the rump's top corner round.
  9. Lift the neck. Outside-reverse-fold the neck strip up on a crease from its bottom corner, so it stands up leaning forward.
  10. Tail down. Outside-reverse-fold the tail strip down on a crease from its top corner, so it hangs down and back behind the hind legs.
  11. Snip the neck. Cut along the back fold of the neck from its base right up to the tip, so the two layers of the neck come apart.
  12. Head back. Fold the top of each neck layer down over the neck, on a crease from its back edge 2.2 cm up, slanting down to the front edge.
  13. Head out. Fold the head back out on a crease from the same corner, so the long head points forward and down. Glue the two head layers together.
  14. Ears: new sheet. Set the donkey aside. Take the 4 cm grey square, white side up, tilted a little to the left.
  15. Ears: fold in half. Fold the left edge over onto the right edge, so you cut both ears at once.
  16. Ears: cut a leaf. Keep the fold as the back of the ear. Cut a long leaf shape from 1 cm along the bottom, bulging out, up to a point at the top of the fold.
  17. Glue on the ears. Glue the ears behind the top of the head, one on each side, so they stand up tall and lean back.

Hee-haw!

Draw an eye, colour the muzzle and belly pale, and the tail tuft, ear tips, mane and hooves dark. Stand it with its legs a little apart.

What to fold next