Origami · folding only

Six-Unit Modular Cube

Challenge (level 5 of 5)
50 min
19 steps
Ages 10–14 (a guide, not a rule)

No scissors
No glue
No adult help needed

Start Making Print

Modular origami builds one shape from many small folded units. Each unit here is a parallelogram with two points and two pockets. Fold six the same way, in three colors, then slide every point into a pocket: the cube holds itself together. Fold slowly and crease hard, because the units must match exactly.

Before you start

You need

6 × Squares of origami paper, two in each of three colors, 150 x 150 mm (6 x 6 in). Paper colored on one side is easiest to follow. All six squares must be exactly the same size. 75 mm (3 in) squares make a tiny cube.

Decorating (optional): No coloring needed: choose three paper colors and put matching colors on opposite sides of the cube.

No squares of origami paper, two in each of three colors? Printer paper cut into equal squares works; thinner paper slides into the pockets more easily. All six units can be one color if that is what you have.

How to place the paper before the first step — **Your paper:** Start with one square, white side up. You will fold six units exactly the same way.

Valley fold: blue dashes. Fold toward you, like a valley.
Crease: a thin gray line where you folded before.
Hidden edge: gray dots show paper behind another layer.
Turn over: flip the whole model to its other side.

Step by step

Each step shows what to do (left) and how it should look after (right).

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Result

Step 1 of 19 Fold and unfold Fold the square in half from left to right. Crease it, then unfold.
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Step 2 of 19 Valley fold Fold the left edge in to meet the center crease.
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Step 3 of 19 Valley fold Fold the right edge in to meet the center crease. The two edges touch in the middle.
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Step 4 of 19 Valley fold Fold the top corner of the left flap down so its top edge lies along the left edge. Fold only this one layer.
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Step 5 of 19 Valley fold Fold the bottom corner of the right flap up so its bottom edge lies along the right edge. Fold only this one layer.
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Step 6 of 19 Fold and unfold Fold the top-right corner down so the top edge lies along the left edge. Crease firmly, then unfold.
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Step 7 of 19 Fold and unfold Fold the bottom-left corner up so the bottom edge lies along the right edge. Crease firmly, then unfold.
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Step 8 of 19 Tuck Fold the top-right corner down again on its crease and tuck it under the left flap.
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Step 9 of 19 Tuck Fold the bottom-left corner up on its crease and tuck it under the right flap. The unit is now a slanted shape.
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Step 10 of 19 Check Find the two pockets: the inside edges of the flaps meet in the middle. A point from another unit will slide under each flap there.
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Step 11 of 19 Turn over Turn the unit over.
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Step 12 of 19 Fold and unfold Fold the top point down on the line between the two side corners, so its tip touches the far corner. Crease well and unfold.
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Step 13 of 19 Fold and unfold Fold the bottom point up the same way. Crease well and unfold. One unit is done: a square with two points.
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Step 14 of 19 Valley fold Fold both points toward you so they stand straight up. Then turn the unit flap side up: the points hang down and the pockets are on top.
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Step 15 of 19 Check Fold five more units the same way: two blue, two orange and two green in all.
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Step 16 of 19 Put together Slide a point of the blue unit into a pocket of the orange unit: over its folded triangle and under its flap. (Two units now: a blue unit held above an orange unit, both with their points bent down.)
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Step 17 of 19 Put together Add a green unit at the front. Its point goes into the blue unit, and the orange unit's point goes into the green unit.
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Step 18 of 19 Put together Add the other orange, green and blue units on the far sides the same way. Matching colors sit opposite each other.
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Step 19 of 19 Push Press gently on each face so every point slides all the way into its pocket.

An origami cube built from six folded units in blue, orange and green, each face showing a pattern of colored triangles.

You made it!

Yours may look a little different. That is part of making things by hand.

Print the steps

If something goes wrong

A point will not go into the pocket.

Check that it slides over the folded triangle and under the flap, not under the whole unit. Open the flap slightly with a fingertip.

The units do not line up and the cube has gaps.

All six squares must be the same size, and every crease must be sharp. Refold any unit whose points are uneven.

The last unit is hard to fit.

Loosen the units next to it a little, put both of its points in their pockets halfway, then push them in together.

The cube falls apart.

The points need to go all the way in. Press each face gently toward the middle until the edges are straight.

Helpful hints

Fold all six units before you start building, and check that they all lean the same way.
Put matching colors on opposite sides: each face then shows its own color and its neighbors' colors.

Sonobe unit, credited to Mitsunobu Sonobe (1960s); widely taught. Six units assembled as a cube; the diagrams are PlayOwl's own.