How to fold an origami island
Fold a long blue piece into the sea and a yellow square into a sandy hump. Add a thin brown trunk and a four-leaf star of palm leaves cut with one snip.
You need: A 21 × 6 cm blue piece, a 10.5 cm yellow square, a 1.2 × 11 cm brown strip, a 9 cm green square, scissors and glue. Medium, 15 steps, about 12 minutes.
Steps
- Sea: round the ends. Start with the blue piece, blue side up, long side across. Fold all four corners a little way behind.
- Trunk: new sheet. Set the sea aside. Take the brown strip, white side up, standing tall.
- Trunk: fold in half. Fold the left edge over onto the right edge, so it is a thin brown strip.
- Leaves: new sheet. Set the trunk aside. Take the green square, green side up.
- Leaves: fold in half. Fold the top edge down to the bottom edge.
- Leaves: in half again. Fold the right edge over to the left edge. The middle of the square is now the top-right corner.
- Leaves: fold a triangle. Fold the top-left corner down to the bottom-right corner, so the fold runs from the middle corner to the bottom-left.
- Leaves: one snip. Cut straight through all the layers, from the bottom-right corner to the long fold, 2 cm from the middle corner.
- Leaves: open the triangle. Lift the top flap and fold it back up.
- Leaves: open again. Unfold the left half back over to the right.
- Leaves: open flat. Unfold the bottom half back up. Four long pointed leaves!
- Sand: new sheet. Set the leaves aside. Take the yellow square, white side up.
- Sand: fold in half. Fold the top edge down onto the bottom edge.
- Sand: round the top. Fold the two top corners behind, a long way, so the sand makes a low round hump.
- Build the island. Glue the trunk behind the sand, leaning a little, and the leaves turned like an X on its top. Glue the sea over the bottom of the sand.
Paradise island!
Draw a few little waves on the sea. Add a tiny paper boat or a crab on the sand.