All models

How to fold an origami kelp forest

A real project. Fold a sea otter with crimped head and tail, wavy kelp with slanted pleats, a seal, fish, a sea star from one strip and a spiky urchin. Stand it up.

You need: 14 pieces: pale blue A4, teal, olive, brown, pink, grey-brown, orange, red-orange, purple and sand (sizes in steps). Glue, pens.. Challenge, 87 steps, about 90 minutes.

Steps

  1. Sea: the surface. Start with the sea: a 29.7 × 17.7 cm teal sheet, teal side up, lying long. Fold the top edge behind 6 mm for a straight surface.
  2. Kelp: new sheet. Set the sea aside. For a kelp strand, take a 2.2 × 16.4 cm brown-green strip, white side up, standing tall.
  3. Kelp: narrow it. Fold both long edges in to meet along the middle, for a thin strand coloured on both sides.
  4. Kelp: pleat 1, fold over. Fold the top part down over the strand on a level crease 4 cm up from the bottom.
  5. Kelp: pleat 1, fold back. Fold it back up 3 mm lower, on a crease slanting a little, so the strand above leans left. A wave!
  6. Kelp: pleat 2, fold over. Fold the top part down over the strand on a level crease 4.2 cm above the last pleat.
  7. Kelp: pleat 2, fold back. Fold it back up 3 mm lower, on a crease slanting a little, so the strand above leans right. A wave!
  8. Kelp: pleat 3, fold over. Fold the top part down over the strand on a level crease 4.2 cm above the last pleat.
  9. Kelp: pleat 3, fold back. Fold it back up 3 mm lower, on a crease slanting a little, so the strand above leans left. A wave!
  10. Kelp: point the tip. Fold the two top corners behind to meet in the middle, for a pointed blade tip.
  11. Kelp: new sheet. Set the kelp aside. For another kelp strand, take a 2.2 × 14 cm olive strip, white side up, standing tall.
  12. Kelp: narrow it. Fold both long edges in to meet along the middle, for a thin strand coloured on both sides.
  13. Kelp: pleat 1, fold over. Fold the top part down over the strand on a level crease 3.6 cm up from the bottom.
  14. Kelp: pleat 1, fold back. Fold it back up 3 mm lower, on a crease slanting a little, so the strand above leans right. A wave!
  15. Kelp: pleat 2, fold over. Fold the top part down over the strand on a level crease 3.8 cm above the last pleat.
  16. Kelp: pleat 2, fold back. Fold it back up 3 mm lower, on a crease slanting a little, so the strand above leans left. A wave!
  17. Kelp: pleat 3, fold over. Fold the top part down over the strand on a level crease 3.8 cm above the last pleat.
  18. Kelp: pleat 3, fold back. Fold it back up 3 mm lower, on a crease slanting a little, so the strand above leans right. A wave!
  19. Kelp: point the tip. Fold the two top corners behind to meet in the middle, for a pointed blade tip.
  20. Kelp: new sheet. Set the kelp aside. For another kelp strand, take a 2.2 × 15.6 cm brown-green strip, white side up, standing tall.
  21. Kelp: narrow it. Fold both long edges in to meet along the middle, for a thin strand coloured on both sides.
  22. Kelp: pleat 1, fold over. Fold the top part down over the strand on a level crease 4 cm up from the bottom.
  23. Kelp: pleat 1, fold back. Fold it back up 3 mm lower, on a crease slanting a little, so the strand above leans right. A wave!
  24. Kelp: pleat 2, fold over. Fold the top part down over the strand on a level crease 4.2 cm above the last pleat.
  25. Kelp: pleat 2, fold back. Fold it back up 3 mm lower, on a crease slanting a little, so the strand above leans left. A wave!
  26. Kelp: pleat 3, fold over. Fold the top part down over the strand on a level crease 4.2 cm above the last pleat.
  27. Kelp: pleat 3, fold back. Fold it back up 3 mm lower, on a crease slanting a little, so the strand above leans right. A wave!
  28. Kelp: point the tip. Fold the two top corners behind to meet in the middle, for a pointed blade tip.
  29. Sea otter: new sheet. Set the kelp aside. For the sea otter, the hard part: a 8.3 cm brown square, white side up, as a diamond.
  30. Otter: crease the middle. White side up, turned like a diamond, fold the top corner to the bottom corner, crease, and unfold.
  31. Otter: kite. Fold the two edges at the left point in to lie along the middle crease, making a kite. The left point is the tail.
  32. Otter: narrow the other end. Fold the two edges at the right point in to the middle crease too, so you have a long thin diamond.
  33. Otter: fold in half. Fold the top half down onto the bottom half along the middle crease. The long fold on top is the otter's tummy.
  34. Otter: head up: first crease. Fold the right end over on an upright crease 3 cm right of the middle, all layers together.
  35. Otter: head up: crimp. Fold it back to the right on a slanted crease from the same bottom point, so the head end tilts up. That's a crimp.
  36. Otter: tail: first crease. Fold the left end over on an upright crease 2.6 cm left of the middle.
  37. Otter: tail: crimp. Fold it back on a crease slanting the other way from the same bottom point, so the thick tail lifts a little.
  38. Otter: blunt nose. Fold the sharp tip of the head behind, about 6 mm, so the otter gets a round, blunt nose.
  39. Otter's water: new sheet. Set the sea otter aside. For the otter's water, take a 12.1 × 2.1 cm teal strip, teal side up, lying long.
  40. Otter: water: foam. Fold the top edge down 4 mm, so a white line of foam runs along the water.
  41. Shell: new sheet. Set the otter's water aside. For the otter's shell, take a 1.8 cm pink square, white side up, as a diamond.
  42. Otter: shell: make a fan. Fold the top corner down to the bottom corner, so the wide fold is the top of the shell.
  43. Otter: shell: round it. Fold the two side corners in a little on a slant, so the top of the shell is round.
  44. Seal: new sheet. Set the shell aside. For the seal, take a 9.3 cm grey-brown square, white side up, as a diamond.
  45. Seal: crease the diagonal. Fold the left corner to the right corner, crease, and unfold.
  46. Seal: make a kite. Fold the two lower edges in to lie along the centre crease.
  47. Seal: long diamond. Fold the two upper edges in to the centre crease too, making a long diamond with a point at each end.
  48. Seal: blunt the nose. Fold the top point down about 1.9 cm. This end will be the seal's nose.
  49. Seal: fold in half. Fold the left half behind the right half.
  50. Seal: lay it down. Turn it so the long fold is at the bottom and the blunt nose points left.
  51. Seal: head back. Fold the whole front end over onto the body, toward you, on a crease from the bottom edge 6 mm in front of the hump, leaning a little forward.
  52. Seal: head up. Fold it forward again on a crease from the same spot that stands almost straight up, so the head sticks up and out at a slant.
  53. Seal: snip the tail. Cut along the bottom fold from the tail point, about 4.3 cm in, so the tail splits into a front and a back layer.
  54. Seal: fan the flippers. Fold the front layer of the tail up at a slant from the end of the cut. Fold the back layer up behind, just a little, so the flippers fan apart.
  55. Fish: new sheet. Set the seal aside. For a fish, take a 6.3 cm orange square, white side up, as a diamond.
  56. Fish: make a triangle. Fold the bottom corner up to the top corner.
  57. Fish: corners up. Fold the left and right corners up to the top point.
  58. Fish: fold out the tail. Fold the tips of both flaps outward so they fan apart.
  59. Fish: turn it sideways. Rotate so the tail points left.
  60. Fish: new sheet. Set the fish aside. For a smaller fish, take a 5.4 cm orange square, white side up, as a diamond.
  61. Fish: make a triangle. Fold the bottom corner up to the top corner.
  62. Fish: corners up. Fold the left and right corners up to the top point.
  63. Fish: fold out the tail. Fold the tips of both flaps outward so they fan apart.
  64. Fish: turn it sideways. Rotate so the tail points left.
  65. Sand: new sheet. Set the fish aside. For the sea floor, take a 29.7 × 5.1 cm sandy strip, sand side up, lying long.
  66. Sand: slopes. Fold the top left corner behind on a long slant (9 cm along the top, 2 cm down the side), and the top right corner 7 cm along and 1.4 cm down.
  67. Sand: a ripple. Fold the bottom edge up on a crease 2 cm above it.
  68. Sand: ripple back. Fold it back down 5 mm higher. A ridge of sand runs along the sea floor.
  69. Urchin: new sheet. Set the sand aside. For the sea urchin, take a 5.2 cm dark purple square, white side up.
  70. Urchin: corners to the middle. Fold all four corners in to meet in the middle.
  71. Urchin: spines out. Fold each corner back out, creasing 1.4 cm from the middle, so its tip pokes out past the edge as a spine.
  72. Urchin: turn it over. Turn it over. Now it is purple all over: a spiky ball with eight points.
  73. Sea star: new sheet. Set the urchin aside. For the sea star, take a 2.4 × 26 cm red-orange strip, white side up, standing tall.
  74. Sea star: narrow it. Fold both long edges in to meet along the middle. The strip is red-orange on both sides.
  75. Sea star: top arm. Fold the top part down on itself, square across, 2.6 cm up from the bottom end (the middle). That's the top arm.
  76. Sea star: turn to arm 2. Where it comes back to the middle, fold the rest over on a slant so it points upper left, a fifth of a turn round.
  77. Sea star: upper left arm. Fold the rest of the strip back on itself, square across, 2.6 cm out from the middle. That's the upper left arm.
  78. Sea star: turn to arm 3. Where it comes back to the middle, fold the rest over on a slant so it points lower left, a fifth of a turn round.
  79. Sea star: lower left arm. Fold the rest of the strip back on itself, square across, 2.6 cm out from the middle. That's the lower left arm.
  80. Sea star: turn to arm 4. Where it comes back to the middle, fold the rest over on a slant so it points lower right, a fifth of a turn round.
  81. Sea star: lower right arm. Fold the rest of the strip back on itself, square across, 2.6 cm out from the middle. That's the lower right arm.
  82. Sea star: turn to arm 5. Where it comes back to the middle, fold the rest over on a slant so it points upper right, a fifth of a turn round.
  83. Sea star: upper right arm. Fold the rest of the strip back on itself, square across, 2.6 cm out from the middle. That's the upper right arm.
  84. Sea star: round the arms. Fold the two corners of every arm tip behind, 4 mm each, so the five arms end round.
  85. Sky: new sheet. Set the sea star aside. Last, the sky: a pale blue A4 sheet, coloured side up, lying long.
  86. Build the scene. Glue the sea on the sky, then the kelp, the otter on the surface, the seal and fish, the sand over the kelp's feet, then the urchin and sea star on the sand.
  87. Stand it up. Bend the sky gently towards you just left of the seal, and stand the kelp forest up on the table.

Floating in the kelp!

Draw the otter's face, the seal's eye and whiskers, the fish's eyes, white bumps on the sea star and urchin, and a few bubbles.

What to fold next