Origami · folding only

Tulip

Growing (level 3 of 5)
15 min
9 steps
Ages 6–11 (a guide, not a rule)

No scissors
No glue
No adult help needed

Start Making Print

A tulip made from two squares: one for the flower and one for the stem. The flower is a triangle with two corners folded up as petals. The stem is a kite folded twice to make it thin, folded in half, with its bottom folded up into a leaf. The stem point slides into the flower between its layers, so no glue is needed.

Before you start

You need

Square of red (or pink, yellow, purple) origami paper for the flower, 100 x 100 mm (4 x 4 in). Colored on one side and white on the other. A smaller square than the stem keeps the flower in proportion.
Square of green origami paper for the stem, 150 x 150 mm (6 x 6 in). Colored on one side and white on the other.

Decorating (optional): Draw thin lines on the petals, or make a whole bunch in different colors.

No square of red (or pink, yellow, purple) origami paper for the flower? No origami paper? Fold the corner of a printer sheet over to the opposite edge and cut or tear off the extra strip to make a square. Two squares of the same size work too; the flower is just bigger.

How to place the paper before the first step — **Your paper:** Start with the flower square. Put it down like a diamond, white side up, with one corner pointing up.

Valley fold: blue dashes. Fold toward you, like a valley.
Crease: a thin gray line where you folded before.

Step by step

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

Do this

Result

Step 1 of 9 Valley fold Fold the top corner down to the bottom corner to make a triangle.
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Result

Step 2 of 9 Valley fold Fold the left corner up along a slanted line from the bottom point, so it sticks up above the top edge as a petal.
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Result

Step 3 of 9 Valley fold Fold the right corner up the same way to make the second petal. The flower is done.
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Result

Step 4 of 9 Fold and unfold Now take the green square. Put it down like a diamond, white side up. Fold the left corner to the right corner, press and unfold. (A new piece: the green square for the stem.)
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Result

Step 5 of 9 Valley fold Fold the two top edges in so they lie along the middle crease. It looks like a kite.
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Result

Step 6 of 9 Valley fold Fold the new slanted edges in to the middle again, to make the kite long and thin.
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Result

Step 7 of 9 Valley fold Fold the kite in half: bring the left half over onto the right half along the middle.
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Result

Step 8 of 9 Valley fold Make the leaf: fold the bottom part up along a line that slants down to the right, so its point sticks up beside the stem.
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Result

Step 9 of 9 Put together Slide the top point of the stem into the bottom of the flower, between its layers. Your tulip is ready! (Both pieces together, drawn smaller so they fit.)