Paper craft

Six-Point Paper Snowflake

Growing (level 3 of 5)
20 min
8 steps
Ages 7–12 (a guide, not a rule)

Uses scissors
No glue
Adult help suggested

Start Making Print with template

Real snowflakes have six points. To cut one, the paper must be folded around its center into equal 60-degree parts, then in half again. The template has every fold line and the cutting pattern printed on it, so the angles come out right. Thin paper is easiest to cut, because the folded wedge has 12 layers.

Before you start

You need

Thin printer paper, printed with the template, 216 x 279 mm (8.5 x 11 in (Letter) or A4). The square to cut out is 150 mm (about 6 in). Thin paper cuts more easily through 12 layers.
Blunt-tip scissors
Ruler (to check the scale bar)

Decorating (optional): Leave it white, or color both sides lightly with a pencil before folding.

No thin printer paper, printed with the template? No printer? Draw the square, the diagonal and the two 60-degree lines with a protractor, or fold the thirds by eye so the two outer parts match the middle one. Coffee filters and tissue paper make very fine snowflakes.

For the grown-up: Twelve layers are thick: help with the outer cut, and hold the folded point so the layers do not slip while your child cuts the notches.

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

How to place the paper before the first step — **Your paper:** Print the template at 100% (Actual size) on thin paper and check the 5 cm bar with a ruler. Lay it printed side up.

Mountain fold: pink dash-dot. Fold away from you, like a mountain.
Crease: a thin gray line where you folded before.
Cut: a thick solid line with scissors.

Step by step

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

Do this

Result

Step 1 of 8 Cut Cut out the square along its outside line.
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Result

Step 2 of 8 Mountain fold Fold the square in half along line 1: fold the top left half behind. You now have a triangle with the print on top. (The cut-out square, drawn larger.)
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Result

Step 3 of 8 Mountain fold Fold the top part behind along line 2. The fold starts at the center dot.
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Result

Step 4 of 8 Mountain fold Fold the left part behind along line 3. Now three equal parts are stacked, each a 60-degree slice around the center dot.
Do this

Result

Step 5 of 8 Mountain fold Fold the slice in half behind along line 4, the middle line. The cutting pattern is on top, with 12 layers under it.
Do this

Result

Step 6 of 8 Cut Hold the layers tight and cut along the slanted outer line through all of them. The extra paper falls away.
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Result

Step 7 of 8 Cut Cut out the three small gray shapes: one notch on each folded edge and the tip at the center dot.
Do this

Result

Step 8 of 8 Unfold Unfold the paper slowly and press it flat. Your snowflake has six points!

A white six-point paper snowflake with diamond-shaped holes on every arm and a small hole in the middle.

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.

Snowflake square with fold lines 1 to 4 and the cutting pattern · 150 × 150 mm. The square is 150 mm (about 6 in). Fold every line behind (away from you), in the order 1, 2, 3, 4. Print at 100%.

Print the template

If something goes wrong

The snowflake has three big points and three small ones.

The two outer parts were not folded exactly on lines 2 and 3. Line their edges up with the printed lines and press flat before cutting.

The scissors will not cut through.

Use thinner paper, or ask an adult to cut the outer line while you hold the folded point.

The snowflake falls apart when you open it.

Do not cut all the way across a folded edge; the notches must stop inside the paper.

Helpful hints

Press each fold flat with your fingernail; neat folds make even points.
After your first snowflake, try your own notches on a blank folded wedge.

An original PlayOwl project.