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How to fold an origami volcano island

A prehistoric build. Fold a volcano with lava and smoke, a green island, stepped fern fronds, a triceratops, a long-neck dinosaur, the sea with foam and a wave, and a pterosaur.

You need: 18 pieces: peach A4, grey, brown, red-orange, greens, cream, orange, purple, blue and rust paper (sizes in steps). Scissors, glue, a pen.. Challenge, 93 steps, about 130 minutes.

Steps

  1. Smoke: round it. Start with the smoke: a 7.1 × 4.8 cm dark grey piece, grey side up, long side across. Fold all four corners a little way behind to make a soft round puff.
  2. Volcano: new sheet. Set the smoke aside. For the volcano, take a 14.3 cm brown square, white side up, turned like a diamond.
  3. Cone: fold in half. Start with the brown square, white side up, turned like a diamond. Fold the bottom corner up to the top corner.
  4. Cone: flat top. Fold the top point behind, 2.8 cm down from the tip. The cone now has a flat top: the crater.
  5. Lava: new sheet. Set the volcano aside. For the lava, take a 7.1 cm red-orange square, white side up, turned like a diamond.
  6. Lava: long point. Fold the two lower edges in so they meet along the middle. The bottom becomes a long point.
  7. Lava: turn it over. Flip it over so the smooth red-orange side faces you.
  8. Island: new sheet. Set the lava aside. For the jungle island, take a 24.9 × 10.1 cm dark green piece, green side up, lying long.
  9. Island: slopes. Fold both top corners behind on long slants that meet 4 cm left of the middle. A green hill.
  10. Island: soft crest. Fold the top point behind 1 cm for a round-topped island.
  11. Fern frond 1: new sheet. Set the island aside. For a fern, take a 11 cm green square, white side up, turned like a diamond.
  12. Fern 1: kite. Fold the two upper edges in to lie along the middle line. A kite with a long point at the top.
  13. Fern 1: narrow it. Fold the long edges in to the middle line again, all the way down. A slim green spike.
  14. Fern 1: bottom behind. Fold the bottom behind on a level crease 11 cm below the top point. A slim frond.
  15. Fern 1: fold down. Fold the top down on a level crease 7.4 cm above the bottom edge.
  16. Fern 1: fold up. Fold it back up 7 mm lower. The edges now step in like rows of leaflets.
  17. Fern 1: fold down. Fold the top down on a level crease 3 cm above the bottom edge.
  18. Fern 1: fold up. Do it again higher up for another row of leaflets.
  19. Fern frond 2: new sheet. Set the fern frond 1 aside. Fold fern frond 2 the same way from another 11 cm green square.
  20. Fern 2: kite. Fold the upper edges to the middle line.
  21. Fern 2: narrow it. Fold the long edges to the middle again.
  22. Fern 2: bottom behind. Fold the bottom point behind.
  23. Fern 2: fold down. Fold the top down as before.
  24. Fern 2: fold up. Fold it back up 7 mm lower.
  25. Fern 2: fold down. Fold the top down as before.
  26. Fern 2: fold up. Fold it back up 7 mm lower.
  27. Fern frond 3: new sheet. Set the fern frond 2 aside. Fold fern frond 3 the same way from another 11 cm green square.
  28. Fern 3: kite. Fold the upper edges to the middle line.
  29. Fern 3: narrow it. Fold the long edges to the middle again.
  30. Fern 3: bottom behind. Fold the bottom point behind.
  31. Fern 3: fold down. Fold the top down as before.
  32. Fern 3: fold up. Fold it back up 7 mm lower.
  33. Fern 3: fold down. Fold the top down as before.
  34. Fern 3: fold up. Fold it back up 7 mm lower.
  35. Frill: new sheet. Set the fern frond 3 aside. For the triceratops's frill, take a 5.4 × 5.4 cm orange square, white side up.
  36. Frill: fold in half. Fold the bottom edge up to the top edge. The fold is the bottom of the frill.
  37. Frill: cut a half circle. Round it into a half circle: cut off the two top corners and then the four small corners left, keeping the whole fold.
  38. Triceratops: new sheet. Set the frill aside. Now the triceratops, the hard part. Its body: a 9 × 9 cm green square, white side up.
  39. Triceratops: fold in half. White side up, fold the top edge down to the bottom edge. The fold at the top is the triceratops's back.
  40. Triceratops: crease the legs. Fold the left end over on an upright crease 2.6 cm from the left edge, and the right end behind on one 4.6 cm from the right edge.
  41. Triceratops: open them. Unfold both ends again. The two creases mark the inside edges of the legs.
  42. Triceratops: ends back. Outside-reverse-fold the right end back over the body 3.3 cm from the right edge, and the left end 1.3 cm from the left edge.
  43. Triceratops: cut the strips. Cut up both end folds, leaving 1.8 cm at the right and 8 mm at the left. Trim the right flap to a 1.8 cm strip and the left one to a point.
  44. Triceratops: shape the beak. Snip the top corner off the head strip's tip, from the top fold 1.4 cm in down to the bottom corner, so the tip ends in a sharp beak.
  45. Triceratops: cut the legs. Cut up both leg creases to 3 cm below the top fold. Cut the belly between them in a shallow curve, 3.3 cm below the top in the middle.
  46. Triceratops: slim the legs. Slant the rump and chest edges in 3 mm at the foot, starting from the strips, and the inside edge of each leg 2 mm. Keep the legs thick.
  47. Triceratops: tail out. Outside-reverse-fold the tail strip out on a crease from its top corner, so the short tail points back and a little down.
  48. Triceratops: head down. Outside-reverse-fold the head strip out on a crease from its top corner, so the head sticks out low in front, beak down.
  49. Brow horns: new sheet. Set the triceratops aside. For its brow horns, take a 2.7 × 2.7 cm cream square, white side up.
  50. Horns: fold in half. Fold the left edge over onto the right edge, so you cut both big horns at once.
  51. Horns: cut a point. Keep the fold as the back of the horn. Cut a straight slant from 8 mm along the bottom up to the top of the fold.
  52. Nose horn: new sheet. Set the brow horns aside. For the nose horn, take a 1.3 × 1.3 cm cream square, white side up.
  53. Nose horn: fold. Fold it in half, left edge onto the right edge.
  54. Nose horn: cut. Cut a slant from 6 mm along the bottom up to the top of the fold: a short, stubby horn.
  55. Long-neck's legs: new sheet. Set the nose horn aside. For a long-neck dinosaur, start with its legs: a 9.9 × 2 cm purple strip, white side up.
  56. Legs: fold in half. Fold the strip in half lengthwise, bottom edge up to the top edge.
  57. Legs: fold down the ends. Fold each end straight down on a slanted crease that starts on the top edge 1.7 cm from the middle, so the ends hang down as legs.
  58. Long-neck: new sheet. Set the long-neck's legs aside. For its body, take a 9.9 cm purple square, white side up, turned like a diamond.
  59. Body: crease. Start with the body. Fold the left corner to the right corner, crease, and unfold.
  60. Body: make a kite. Fold the two lower edges in to lie along the centre crease.
  61. Body: narrow diamond. Fold the two upper edges in to the centre crease too, making a long diamond with a point at each end.
  62. Body: fold in half. Fold the left half behind the right half.
  63. Body: lay it down. Turn it so the fold is at the bottom.
  64. Body: fold up the neck. Fold the left point up on a slanted crease that starts on the bottom edge right under the hump, so it stands up almost straight as the neck.
  65. Body: fold down the head. Fold the tip of the neck forward and a little down to make the head.
  66. Body: blunt the nose. Snip the very tip off the head, straight across, so the nose is blunt.
  67. Sea: new sheet. Set the long-neck aside. For the sea, take a 29.7 × 4.9 cm blue strip, blue side up, lying long.
  68. Sea: foam. Fold the top edge down 7 mm. The white strip is foam where the waves break on the island.
  69. Sea: fold down. Fold the top part down on a level crease 1.3 cm below the top edge.
  70. Sea: fold up. Fold it back up 3.5 mm lower. The ridge is a rolling swell.
  71. Wave: new sheet. Set the sea aside. For a big wave, take a 6 × 6 cm blue square, blue side up.
  72. Wave: fold the foam. Start blue side up. Fold the top edge down 5 mm. The white strip is the foam on the crest.
  73. Wave: slope the back. Fold the top-right corner behind, from 2.6 cm along the top to 3.8 cm down the right edge.
  74. Wave: fold on a slant. Fold the bottom part up on a slant: the crease runs from the left edge, 3.6 cm below the top, to the sloping edge, 1.4 cm down it.
  75. Wave: cut the hollow. Cut straight across both layers, from the left edge 1.9 cm below the top, rising a little to the fold 3.2 cm in from the left edge.
  76. Wave: open it. Unfold it. A deep V bites in under the top: the hollow under the wave's hanging crest.
  77. Wave: curl the lip. Fold the top-left corner down onto the front, from 1.2 cm down the left edge to 1.2 cm along the top. The lip now curls down to a point.
  78. Pterosaur: new sheet. Set the wave aside. For the flying pterosaur, take a 7.5 cm rust-brown square, white side up, turned like a diamond.
  79. Pterosaur: make a triangle. White side up, fold the bottom corner up to the top corner.
  80. Pterosaur: fold up a band. Fold the bottom edge up 2.3 cm, about a third of the way to the top point.
  81. Pterosaur: turn it over. Flip it over from side to side, keeping the point at the top.
  82. Pterosaur: wings up. Fold each bottom corner up on a crease from the middle of the bottom edge, until the top edge of the wing lies level.
  83. Pterosaur: top point behind. Fold the top point behind on a level crease 1.3 cm above the band, leaving a short, flat-topped neck between the wings.
  84. Pterosaur: fold the tips in. Fold the tip of each wing in, on a crease from its top edge near the tip down to the corner below it.
  85. Pterosaur: fold the tips out. Fold each tip back out on a crease that leans in a little more at the bottom, so the long wing tips droop.
  86. Pterosaur's head: new sheet. Set the pterosaur aside. For its head, take a 5 × 1.4 cm rust-brown strip, white side up, long side across.
  87. Head: fold in half. Fold the top edge down to the bottom edge. The fold is the top of the head.
  88. Head: cut the beak. Cut the right end into a long, sharp beak with two slants. Cut the left end to a point on the fold, slanting from 1.8 cm in at the bottom.
  89. Pterosaur: crest back. Outside-reverse-fold the left point over the head, on a crease from the bottom corner of that cut, leaning left at the top.
  90. Pterosaur: crest up. Outside-reverse-fold it back out on a crease from the same corner, so the crest sweeps back and up. Glue the layers together.
  91. Sky: new sheet. Set the pterosaur's head aside. Last, the sky: a peach A4 sheet, coloured side up, lying long.
  92. Build the scene. Glue the smoke, volcano and lava high on the sky, the island over its foot, then the ferns, the dinosaurs, the sea, the wave and the pterosaur in the sky.
  93. Stand it up. Bend the sky gently towards you near the middle and stand the island up on the table.

Rumble on Volcano Island!

Draw the dinosaurs' eyes and smiles, the triceratops's spots, lines on the wave and the pterosaur's eye.

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