Paper craft · Confident · about 30 minutes
Cube from a Net
Uses scissors · Uses glue · Adult help suggested
- Card stock or thick paper, printed with the template, 216 x 279 mm (8.5 x 11 in (Letter) or A4)
- Blunt-tip scissors
- Glue stick
- Ruler (to check the scale bar)
For the grown-up: Help with cutting the inside corners where the tabs meet the squares, and with holding the last tabs while the glue sets.
Safety: Use blunt-tip scissors and cut away from your fingers.
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. Print the template at 100% (Actual size) on card stock. Check that the 5 cm bar measures 5 cm with a ruler. Lay the sheet printed side up.
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1. Cut: Cut out the whole shape along the solid outer line. Keep every tab.
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2. Fold and unfold: Fold along every dashed line, bending the paper away from you so the shapes stay outside. Then open it flat again.
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3. Glue: Rub glue on the four tabs beside the circle square and the triangle square.
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4. Put together: Stand the four walls up around the blue square. Press each glued tab inside the wall next to it and hold it for a few seconds.
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5. Tuck: Fold the three small top tabs inward so they lie flat.
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6. Glue: Rub glue on top of the three folded tabs.
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7. Put together: Close the lid: fold the star square over onto the glued tabs.
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8. Push: Press the lid gently over each tab and hold it for a minute while the glue sets.
If something goes wrong
- The edges do not meet and there are gaps. Check the 5 cm bar: if it is shorter or longer, print again at 100% (Actual size). Then crease each fold firmly before gluing.
- A tab keeps popping open. Use a little more glue and hold the tab for a full minute, or add a small piece of tape inside.
- The lid will not close flat. Make sure the three top tabs are folded inward, not outward, and that they are flat before you close the lid.