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How to fold an origami playground

A real project. Pleat and turn a red slide, cut an A-shaped ladder, turn a strip into a swing frame, then add a seesaw, a sandpit with a bucket, a tree, the sun and two kids. Stand it up.

You need: 21 pieces: sky-blue A4, green, red, blue, yellow, dark grey, orange, teal, purple, sandy yellow, brown, dark green, skin and hair bits. Scissors, glue.. Challenge, 52 steps, about 90 minutes.

Steps

  1. Grass: straight horizon. Start with the grass: a 29.7 × 6.8 cm green strip, green side up, lying long. Fold the top edge behind 5 mm.
  2. Sun: new sheet. Set the grass aside. For the sun, take a 2.6 cm yellow square, yellow side up.
  3. Sun: round it. Fold all four corners behind, 5 mm along each edge, for a round sun.
  4. Trunk: new sheet. Set the sun aside. For the tree trunk, take a 2.6 × 8.3 cm brown piece, brown side up, standing tall.
  5. Trunk: taper it. Fold both long sides behind on a slant: 8 mm at the top, 3 mm at the bottom. The trunk is thin at the top and spreads at the roots.
  6. Treetop: new sheet. Set the trunk aside. For the treetop, take a 5 × 6 cm dark green piece, green side up.
  7. Treetop: round it. Fold all four corners behind, 1.1 cm along each edge, for a big round treetop.
  8. Swing frame: new sheet. Set the treetop aside. For the swing frame, take a 29.3 × 2.4 cm yellow strip, white side up, lying long.
  9. Swing frame: fold in half. Fold the bottom edge up onto the top edge, for a thick yellow bar.
  10. Swing frame: turn down the posts. Fold both ends down on a slant, 6.8 cm apart, so they hang as two posts that lean out a little. Now it stands like a swing frame.
  11. Swing kid: new sheet. Set the swing frame aside. For a kid's shirt, take a 2 × 2.4 cm orange piece, orange side up.
  12. Swing kid: shoulders. Fold both top corners behind, 5 mm along each edge, for sloping shoulders.
  13. Seat 1: new sheet. Set the shirt aside. For a swing seat, take a 2.4 × 1 cm dark grey piece, white side up.
  14. Seat 1: fold in half. Fold the bottom edge up onto the top edge, for a thick seat.
  15. Seat 2: new sheet. Set the seat aside. For a swing seat, take a 2.4 × 1 cm dark grey piece, white side up.
  16. Seat 2: fold in half. Fold the bottom edge up onto the top edge, for a thick seat.
  17. Swing kid hair: new sheet. Set the seat aside. For the hair, take a 2 × 1.3 cm piece of hair colour, coloured side up.
  18. Swing kid hair: round it. Fold both top corners behind, 5 mm along each edge, so the hair is round on top.
  19. Swing kid head: new sheet. Set the hair aside. For the head, take a 1.7 cm square of skin colour, coloured side up.
  20. Swing kid head: round it. Fold all four corners behind, 3.5 mm along each edge, for a round face.
  21. Ladder: new sheet. Set the head aside. For the ladder, take a 3.6 × 8.3 cm blue piece, blue side up, standing tall.
  22. Ladder: fold in half. Fold the left edge over onto the right edge.
  23. Ladder: cut the rails. Cut the open side on a slant from 4.5 mm in at the top. Then cut from the fold 8 mm below the top to 6 mm in from the corner: a long thin rail.
  24. Ladder: open it. Open it out: two rails joined at the top, like a letter A. The rungs get drawn on later.
  25. Slide: new sheet. Set the ladder aside. For the slide, take a 16 × 2.4 cm red strip, white side up, lying on a slant down to the right.
  26. Slide: fold in half. Fold the upper long edge down onto the lower one. The red fold along the top is the slide you whoosh down.
  27. Slide: pleat, down. Near the top end, 2.3 cm below where the deck will bend, fold the upper end down across the strip, on top.
  28. Slide: pleat, back up. Fold it back up, creasing 3 mm further down. The little ledge is the bump where you sit before you go.
  29. Slide: fold the deck level. Fold the top end over on a shallow slant, so it points straight left. That flat part is the deck at the top of the ladder.
  30. Slide: fold the run-out level. Fold the bottom end over the same way, 11 cm further down, so it points straight right: the run-out where you land.
  31. Slide: round the ends. Snip the top corner off the run-out's end, and both corners off the deck's end, so nothing is sharp.
  32. Slide kid: new sheet. Set the slide aside. For a kid's shirt, take a 2 × 2.3 cm teal piece, teal side up.
  33. Slide kid: shoulders. Fold both top corners behind, 5 mm along each edge, for sloping shoulders.
  34. Slide kid hair: new sheet. Set the shirt aside. For the hair, take a 2 × 1.3 cm piece of hair colour, coloured side up.
  35. Slide kid hair: round it. Fold both top corners behind, 5 mm along each edge, so the hair is round on top.
  36. Slide kid head: new sheet. Set the hair aside. For the head, take a 1.7 cm square of skin colour, coloured side up.
  37. Slide kid head: round it. Fold all four corners behind, 3.5 mm along each edge, for a round face.
  38. Seesaw stand: new sheet. Set the head aside. For the seesaw stand, take a 2.2 cm orange square, white side up, turned like a diamond.
  39. Seesaw stand: triangle. Fold the bottom corner up onto the top corner: an orange triangle for the seesaw to rock on.
  40. Seesaw plank: new sheet. Set the stand aside. For the plank, take a 9.6 × 1.4 cm purple strip, white side up, tipped up a little to the right.
  41. Seesaw plank: fold in half. Fold the upper long edge down onto the lower one, for a thick purple plank.
  42. Seesaw plank: round the ends. Snip both corners off each end of the plank, 4 mm along each edge.
  43. Sand: new sheet. Set the plank aside. For the sand, take a 8.2 × 2 cm sandy yellow piece, yellow side up, lying long.
  44. Sand: heap it up. Fold both top corners behind, 1.5 cm along each edge, so the sand rises in a soft heap.
  45. Bucket: new sheet. Set the sand aside. For the bucket, take a 1.8 × 2.4 cm red piece, red side up.
  46. Bucket: white rim. Fold the top edge down in front, 4 mm. The white band is the bucket's rim.
  47. Bucket: slope the sides. Cut both sides on a slant, from the rim's corners to 3.5 mm in at the bottom, so the bucket narrows down.
  48. Sandpit: new sheet. Set the bucket aside. For the wooden sandpit, take a 9 × 1.9 cm wood-brown strip, brown side up, lying long.
  49. Sandpit: neat top. Fold the top edge behind 3 mm, for a straight wooden rim.
  50. Sky: new sheet. Set the sandpit aside. Last, the sky: a sky-blue A4 sheet, blue side up, lying long.
  51. Build the playground. Glue the grass along the bottom, then the sun, tree, swings and swing kid, the ladder, slide and slide kid, the seesaw and the sandpit, as shown.
  52. Stand it up. Bend the sky gently towards you between the slide and the swings, and stand the playground up on the table.

Playtime!

Draw the ladder rungs, swing chains, the kids' faces, arms and legs, sun rays, a spade in the sand and the bucket handle. Wheee!

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