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PlayOwl
A standing paper rocket with a white body, a round blue window, a red nose cone and three red fins.
The finished project.

Paper craft

Paper-Roll Rocket

  • Confident (level 4 of 5)
  • 35 min
  • 10 steps
  • Ages 7–12 (a guide, not a rule)
  • Uses scissors
  • Uses glue
  • Adult help suggested
Start Making Print with template

This rocket is made of three shapes you will meet in math class: a cylinder (the rolled body), a cone (a curled circle slice) and flat fins. The nose cone's curved edge is exactly as long as the way around the tube, so it fits right on top. The three fin lines are a third of the way around from each other, so the rocket stands straight.

Before you start

You need

Decorating (optional): Color the nose cone and fins before cutting, and add stripes, a name or a flag to the body.

No card stock or thick paper printed with the rocket template? A cardboard tube about 5 cm (2 in) across can replace the rolled body: wrap the printed body around it. Printer paper works if you roll the body twice as thick: roll a second body inside the first.

For the grown-up: Help cut the small tabs around the nose cone, and hold the cone closed while the glue sets.

Use blunt-tip scissors and cut away from your fingers.

This is a model to stand and play with, not a flying toy: do not throw it at faces or anything fragile.

How to place the paper before the first step
Your paper: Print the template at 100% (Actual size) on card stock and check the 5 cm bar. Color the cone, fins and window.
  • Valley fold: blue dashes. Fold toward you, like a valley.
  • Crease: a thin gray line where you folded before.
  • Cut: a thick solid line with scissors.
  • Glue: a yellow area marked "glue".

Step by step

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

  1. Step 1: cut, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 1 result Result
    Step 1 of 10 Cut Cut out all the pieces along the solid lines: the body, the nose cone, three fins and the window.
  2. Step 2: glue, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 2 result Result
    Step 2 of 10 Glue Decorate the body, then glue the window on the circle near the top.
  3. Step 3: roll, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 3 result Result
    Step 3 of 10 Roll Roll the body into a tube with the decorated side outside, so the plain edge overlaps the glue tab. (Zoomed in on the body piece.)
  4. Step 4: push, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 4 result Result
    Step 4 of 10 Push Press along the seam to glue the tab inside the tube. Hold it for 30 seconds.
  5. Step 5: curl, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 5 result Result
    Step 5 of 10 Curl Curl the nose cone piece into a cone, sliding the plain edge over the glue strip until the bottom is as wide as the tube. Glue it. (Zoomed in on the nose cone piece.)
  6. Step 6: valley fold, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 6 result Result
    Step 6 of 10 Valley fold Fold the small tabs around the bottom of the cone inward.
  7. Step 7: glue, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 7 result Result
    Step 7 of 10 Glue Rub glue on the folded tabs and push the cone into the top of the tube. (Back to the tube.)
  8. Step 8: valley fold, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 8 result Result
    Step 8 of 10 Valley fold Fold the tab of each fin along its dotted line, so the tab sticks out sideways. (Zoomed in on the three fins.)
  9. Step 9: glue, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 9 result Result
    Step 9 of 10 Glue Glue each fin tab onto one of the three printed lines at the bottom of the tube. Line the fin bottoms up with the bottom of the tube. (Back to the rocket.)
  10. Step 10: check, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 10 result Result
    Step 10 of 10 Check Stand your rocket on its fins. Ready for countdown!
A standing paper rocket with a white body, a round blue window, a red nose cone and three red fins.

You made it!

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

Print the steps

Template

Print the template at 100% (Actual size), not "Fit to page". Then measure the check bar with a ruler: it must be 5 cm (2 in) long.

  • Rocket body, nose cone, fins and window (preview, not to scale) Rocket body, nose cone, fins and window · 184 × 218 mm. Body 160 x 100 mm plus a 10 mm tab (a tube about 51 mm across); cone cut from a 45 mm circle slice whose curved edge is 160 mm long. Print at 100%.
Print the template

If something goes wrong

The cone does not fit the tube.

Slide the cone edge over the glue strip a little more or less until its bottom is the same size as the tube, then glue it.

The tube springs open.

Use more glue on the tab and hold the seam for a full minute, or add a small piece of tape inside.

The rocket leans.

Make sure all three fin bottoms line up with the bottom of the tube, and that each fin sits on its printed line.

Helpful hints

  • Roll the body around a marker first to curve the card, then let it open and glue it.
  • Glue one fin at a time and let it set before the next.

An original PlayOwl project.

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    Growing (level 3 of 5) 15 min Ages 6–10
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    Soft-Nose Paper Airplane

    Easy (level 2 of 5) 10 min Ages 5–10 Origami Sheet of printer paper (Letter or A4) No scissors No glue