Origami · folding only · Growing · about 15 minutes
Tulip
No scissors · No glue · No adult help needed
- Square of red (or pink, yellow, purple) origami paper for the flower, 100 x 100 mm (4 x 4 in)
- Square of green origami paper for the stem, 150 x 150 mm (6 x 6 in)
Blue dashes: valley fold (toward you). Pink dash-dot: mountain fold (away from you). Thick line with scissors: cut. Yellow: glue.
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Start. Start with the flower square. Put it down like a diamond, white side up, with one corner pointing up.
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1. Valley fold: Fold the top corner down to the bottom corner to make a triangle.
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2. 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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3. Valley fold: Fold the right corner up the same way to make the second petal. The flower is done.
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4. 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.
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5. Valley fold: Fold the two top edges in so they lie along the middle crease. It looks like a kite.
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6. Valley fold: Fold the new slanted edges in to the middle again, to make the kite long and thin.
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7. Valley fold: Fold the kite in half: bring the left half over onto the right half along the middle.
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8. 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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9. Put together: Slide the top point of the stem into the bottom of the flower, between its layers. Your tulip is ready!
If something goes wrong
- The petals point straight out to the sides. Start each petal fold right at the bottom point and fold the corner up more steeply, so its tip rises above the top edge.
- The stem will not go into the flower. Pinch the stem point flat and find the opening at the flower's bottom point between the front and back layers.
- The leaf is too small. Fold the leaf line a little higher up the stem, so more paper swings out.