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How to fold an origami praying mantis

Four folded pieces. Reverse-fold a long body to lift the neck and turn the head, fold a front leg with a sharp elbow and claw, bend a strip of walking legs and fold a slim wing.

You need: Green paper: a 14 × 4.8 cm strip, a 3 × 11 cm strip and a 12 × 2 cm strip, plus an 8 × 2 cm light green strip; glue. Hard, 21 steps, about 35 minutes.

Steps

  1. Body: edges to the middle. Lay the 14 × 4.8 cm strip across, white side up. Fold the top and bottom edges in to meet along the middle.
  2. Body: fold in half. Fold the top half down behind, so the flaps are inside. The fold along the top is the mantis's back.
  3. Body: taper the tail. Fold the bottom corner of the right end behind on a gentle slant, from 4 cm in, so the tail end is thin.
  4. Body: lift the neck. 5.5 cm from the left end, outside reverse fold the left part up steeply: open the layers and wrap them back around the body. This is the long neck.
  5. Body: turn the head. Near the top of the neck, outside reverse fold the tip down and forward. That small bent end is the head.
  6. Front leg. Set the body aside. Lay the 3 × 11 cm strip across, white side up.
  7. Front leg: fold in half. Fold the top half down, green side out.
  8. Front leg: thinner. Fold it in half again the long way, so it's a strong thin stick.
  9. Front leg: point the claw. Fold the top corner of the right end behind on a slant, from 1.1 cm in to the middle of the end, so it ends in a sharp point.
  10. Front leg: fold the elbow. 2.7 cm from the left end, fold the rest of the strip down and back on a slant, so it turns sharply. That corner is the elbow.
  11. Front leg: fold the claw. 4.5 cm past the elbow, fold the pointed end right back along the leg into a tight V. That is the grabbing claw, folded as if praying.
  12. Wing. Set the front leg aside. Lay the light green strip across, coloured side up.
  13. Wing: point the ends. Fold the top-left and bottom-right corners behind on long slants.
  14. Wing: a slim leaf. Fold the other two corners behind a little, so the wing is a slim leaf.
  15. Walking legs. Set the wing aside. Lay the 12 × 2 cm strip across, white side up.
  16. Walking legs: fold in half. Fold the top half down, green side out.
  17. Walking legs: thinner. Fold it in half again the long way.
  18. Walking legs: knees. 2.7 cm from each end, bend the end the same way round, so the strip makes a long flat S.
  19. Walking legs: fold a V. Fold the left half over on a slant through the middle, so the strip makes a wide V with both feet bent the same way.
  20. Walking legs: stand them up. Turn the V so it opens downwards, the feet bent out at the bottom.
  21. Glue it together. Glue the body on top of the legs' V, just behind the waist. Glue the front leg at the top of the neck, claw forward, and the wing along the back.

Ready to pounce!

Draw a big eye with a white shine on the head and a vein along the wing.

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