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How to fold an origami t-rex

A seven-piece dinosaur: a tipped-up kite body with a long tail, two legs with feet made by outside reverse folds, a zigzag of orange spikes, a pale chest, a tiny arm and a chunky head with a snipped, swung-open jaw and white teeth. It stands on its feet and tail.

You need: Green squares: 15 cm, two 10 cm, 9 cm and 4 cm. A 6.5 cm pale yellow square, a 12 x 3.6 cm orange strip. Scissors, glue, black pen.. Challenge, 44 steps, about 50 minutes.

Steps

  1. Body: crease the middle. Start with the body: a 15 cm green square, white side up, turned like a diamond. Fold the top corner down to the bottom corner and open it again.
  2. Body: make a kite. Fold the two edges by the left corner in so they meet along the middle crease. The long point on the left will be the tail.
  3. Body: fold in half. Fold the top half behind along the middle, so the flaps stay outside. The fold along the top is the T-Rex's back.
  4. Body: tip it up. Turn it so the back slopes up to the right and the tail tip touches the table. The wide end at the top right is the chest and neck.
  5. Spikes: new sheet. Set the body aside. Cut a 12 x 3.6 cm strip of orange paper and lay it white side up, long sides at the top and bottom.
  6. Spikes: fold in half. Fold the top edge down to the bottom edge. The spikes will be cut along this fold.
  7. Spikes: fold it small. Fold the right end over to the left end.
  8. Spikes: smaller. Fold the right end over to the left end again.
  9. Spikes: smallest. And once more, so it is 1.5 cm wide. Press it flat.
  10. Spikes: snip the zigzag. Cut one slant through all the layers, from the top right corner down to the left edge 3 mm above the bottom, so the spikes stay joined.
  11. Spikes: open it. Unfold the last fold.
  12. Spikes: open again. Unfold the next fold.
  13. Spikes: open it out. Unfold the first fold. A row of four spikes stands along the top!
  14. Leg: new sheet. Set the spikes aside. Take a 10 cm green square, white side up, turned like a diamond.
  15. Leg: crease the middle. Fold the left corner to the right corner and open it again.
  16. Leg: make a kite. Fold the two lower edges in so they meet along the crease: a kite with a long point at the bottom.
  17. Leg: fold down the top. Fold the short top point down along the line between the side corners. This rounds off the thigh.
  18. Leg: fold in half. Fold the right half behind along the crease. The fold on the right is the front of the leg.
  19. Leg: the foot. Outside-reverse-fold the bottom point forward, the crease 3.2 cm up the front fold at 45°, so it lies flat as a foot.
  20. Leg: shape the thigh. Snip off the two top corners to round the thigh. Then cut a slant up the back edge, from just behind the heel to the middle, for a slim shin.
  21. Glue on the spikes and a leg. Slip the spikes over the back, near the middle, and glue them, points up. Glue the leg's thigh behind the body, its foot level with the tail tip.
  22. Chest: new sheet. Set the T-Rex aside. Take a 6.5 cm pale yellow square, white side up.
  23. Chest: fold a triangle. Fold it in half from corner to corner, top right corner down onto the bottom left one. The long fold is the front of the chest.
  24. Second leg: new sheet. Set the chest aside. Fold a second leg from another 10 cm green square, white side up, turned like a diamond.
  25. Second leg: crease the middle. Crease the middle from left corner to right corner.
  26. Second leg: make a kite. Fold the lower edges to the crease to make a kite.
  27. Second leg: fold down the top. Fold the top point down.
  28. Second leg: fold in half. Fold the right half behind.
  29. Second leg: the foot. Reverse-fold the bottom point forward into a foot, like the first leg.
  30. Second leg: shape the thigh. Round the thigh and slim the shin with the same three snips.
  31. Arm: new sheet. Set the leg aside. Take a 4 cm green square, white side up.
  32. Arm: fold in half. Fold the top edge down to the bottom edge.
  33. Arm: in half again. Fold the bottom edge up to the top edge, making a thin strip.
  34. Arm: bend the elbow. Fold the right end down on a slant, creasing from the top edge a little right of the middle. It's a tiny arm reaching forward!
  35. Head: new sheet. Set the arm aside. Take a 9 cm green square, white side up.
  36. Head: fold in half. Fold the bottom edge up to the top edge and crease it well: you will snip along this fold.
  37. Head: open it again. Unfold it back into a square.
  38. Head: flaps to the middle. Fold the top and bottom edges in, each stopping 5 mm short of the middle crease. The white stripe left in the middle will be the teeth.
  39. Head: fold back the end. Fold the left end behind, 2.4 cm from the edge. This makes the head shorter and chunkier.
  40. Head: snip the mouth. Snip along the middle of the white stripe from the right edge, stopping 1.2 cm from the left edge. The right end is the snout.
  41. Head: open the jaw. Fold the lower jaw towards you on a slant from the end of the snip. The mouth opens wide, with white teeth along the top jaw.
  42. Head: trim the head. Cut off the jaw flap where it hangs below the head. Snip a slope off the top of the snout and the top back corner, so the head is rounder.
  43. Glue on chest, legs, arm, head. Glue the chest over the white front, its fold along the edge. Glue the head on the neck, the second leg on the side and the tiny arm on the chest.
  44. Stand it up. Bend the tail gently towards you along a line just behind the legs, and stand the T-Rex on its feet and tail tip.

Roar!

Draw a fierce eye and a nostril. Ink between the teeth and the corner of the mouth, and add two claws to the front foot. Now stomp it across the table!

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