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How to fold an origami teddy bear

Fold a bear head with ears, glue on a tan muzzle, then fold a body whose arms swing out from snipped side flaps. A V cut makes the legs, and a red bow tie finishes him.

You need: Two 15 cm squares brown on one side, a 5 cm tan square, a 6 × 3 cm red strip, scissors, glue and a white pen. Medium, 21 steps, about 20 minutes.

Steps

  1. Head: triangle. Start with the head: a brown square, white side up, like a diamond. Fold the bottom corner up to the top corner.
  2. Head: top down. Fold the top point down until it touches the middle of the bottom edge.
  3. Head: ears up. Fold both bottom corners up so they stick out above the top edge as ears.
  4. Head: round ears. Fold the pointy tip of each ear down, so the ears turn short and round.
  5. Head: cheeks. Fold in the outer corners where the ears meet the cheeks, so the sides are straight.
  6. Head: turn over. Flip the head over so the smooth brown side faces you.
  7. Muzzle: new sheet. Set the head aside. Take the small tan piece, tan side up, lying across.
  8. Muzzle: round it. Fold all four corners a little way behind, so the muzzle is a soft rounded patch.
  9. Bow tie: new strip. Set the muzzle aside. Take the red strip, red side up, lying across.
  10. Bow tie: fold in half. Fold the left edge over onto the right edge.
  11. Bow tie: open. Open it again, so a crease runs down the middle.
  12. Bow tie: snip. Snip a little way along the crease from the top edge and from the bottom edge, leaving the middle joined.
  13. Bow tie: pinch it. Fold the four corners beside the snips behind on a slant, so the strip pinches in to a narrow knot in the middle.
  14. Body: new sheet. Set the bow tie aside. Take the second brown square, brown side up.
  15. Body: fold in half. Fold the left edge over to the right edge.
  16. Body: open. Unfold it, so a crease runs down the middle.
  17. Body: sides behind. Fold the left and right edges behind to meet at the middle crease.
  18. Body: snip. Snip down both side folds from the top, about a third of the way. Snip up the middle crease from the bottom, about a quarter of the way.
  19. Body: arms out. At the back, fold the top of each side flap out on a slant from the end of its snip, so it sticks out sideways as an arm.
  20. Body: legs and paws. Cut off the top of the middle, level with the arms. Cut a V up to the middle snip for two legs, slim their outsides, and snip the corners of feet and paws.
  21. Put him together. Glue the head on top of the body, the muzzle low on the face, and the bow tie just under the chin.

Ready for a cuddle!

Draw two eyes, a round nose and a smile. Add white paw pads on his hands and feet.

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