Paper craft · Growing · about 20 minutes

Six-Point Paper Snowflake

Uses scissors · No glue · Adult help suggested

Thin printer paper, printed with the template, 216 x 279 mm (8.5 x 11 in (Letter) or A4)
Blunt-tip scissors
Ruler (to check the scale bar)

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.

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

Finished

Blue dashes: valley fold (toward you). Pink dash-dot: mountain fold (away from you). Thick line with scissors: cut. Yellow: glue.

Start. Print the template at 100% (Actual size) on thin paper and check the 5 cm bar with a ruler. Lay it printed side up.
1. Cut: Cut out the square along its outside line.
2. 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.
3. Mountain fold: Fold the top part behind along line 2. The fold starts at the center dot.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Cut: Hold the layers tight and cut along the slanted outer line through all of them. The extra paper falls away.
7. Cut: Cut out the three small gray shapes: one notch on each folded edge and the tip at the center dot.
8. Unfold: Unfold the paper slowly and press it flat. Your snowflake has six points!

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.

Template · print at 100% (Actual size)

Six-Point Paper Snowflake: Snowflake square with fold lines 1 to 4 and the cutting pattern

Measure the black bars with a ruler: 5 cm and 2 in. If they are shorter or longer, print again at 100% (Actual size), not "Fit to page".