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How to fold an origami toucan

Fold a black kite into a body with a pleated tail and a little head whose folded corner shows a white throat. Snip a huge curved orange beak and perch it all on a branch.

You need: Black squares (15 cm and 6 cm), an orange strip (11 × 6 cm), a brown strip (22 × 3 cm), scissors, glue and a white gel pen. Hard, 17 steps, about 25 minutes.

Steps

  1. Body: crease the middle. Start with the big black square, white side up, like a diamond. Fold the left corner to the right corner and unfold.
  2. Body: make a kite. Fold the two lower edges in to lie along the middle crease.
  3. Body: turn it over. Flip it over, keeping the long point at the bottom. It is all black now.
  4. Body: shoulders. Fold the top point behind, about 3.7 cm down from the tip, so the top is flat.
  5. Body: slim it. Fold the left and right corners behind on upright creases, 3 cm either side of the middle.
  6. Tail: fold up. Fold the long bottom point up, about 3 cm from its tip.
  7. Tail: and back down. Fold the point back down on a crease 1 cm above the last one. The little step across the tail is a pleat.
  8. Head: new sheet. Set the body aside. Take the small black square, black side up.
  9. Head: white throat. Fold the bottom-right corner up on a slant, about 4.8 cm in from it, so a big white triangle shows: the throat.
  10. Head: round it. Fold the other three corners behind, about 1.5 cm in from each, so the head is round.
  11. Beak: new sheet. Set the head aside. Take the orange strip, white side up, long side at the bottom.
  12. Beak: fold in half. Fold the top edge down to the bottom edge. The fold on top is the top of the beak.
  13. Beak: taper it. Cut the bottom edge from the left end through 2.4 cm below the fold at the middle to 1.2 cm below it at the tip. Snip the top fold off at a slant near the tip.
  14. Branch: new sheet. Set the beak aside. Take the brown strip, white side up.
  15. Branch: fold in half. Fold the top edge down to the bottom edge.
  16. Branch: snip the ends. Snip both ends off at a slant, like a cut branch.
  17. Perch it. Glue the body on the branch, leaning back, its tail hanging below. Glue the head on top, white throat forward, and the beak on its front.

Squawk!

Draw a white ring round a black eye and colour the tip of the beak black. Stand it on a shelf or hang it from the branch.

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