Paper craft · Confident · about 30 minutes
Pop-Up Tree Card
Uses scissors · Uses glue · Adult help suggested
- 2 × Card stock printed with both templates, 216 x 279 mm (8.5 x 11 in (Letter) or A4)
- Blunt-tip scissors
- Glue stick
- Ruler (to check the scale bar)
- Pencil or markers for coloring and writing
For the grown-up: Help hold the folded card while the two short cuts are made through both layers, and check that each cut stops at the end of its line.
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 both templates at 100% (Actual size) on card stock and check that the 5 cm bar measures 5 cm. Lay the card sheet printed side up.
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1. Cut: Cut out the card along the solid outer line.
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2. Mountain fold: Fold the card in half along the long middle line, with the printed side on the outside.
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3. Cut: Cut the two short lines in from the folded edge, through both layers. Stop at the end of each line.
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4. Fold and unfold: Fold the flap between the cuts up along the dashed line. Crease it hard, then fold it back down.
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5. Unfold: Unfold the card and lay it flat, printed side up.
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6. Push: Stand the card up like an L, printed side toward you. Push the flap toward you so it folds the other way and pops out as a step.
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7. Cut: On the second template, cut out the tree, the sun and the cloud along the solid lines.
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8. Glue: Rub glue on the front of the step. Press the tree trunk onto it, with the bottom of the trunk at the floor.
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9. Glue: Glue the sun and the cloud high up on the back wall.
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10. Check: Close the card slowly. The step and the tree fold flat inside. If anything sticks out, trim it a little.
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11. Open: Write a message on the front, then open the card: the tree pops up!
If something goes wrong
- The step will not pop out. Crease the flap firmly both ways in step 4, then push it through from the back while the card is half open.
- The tree sticks out of the closed card. Glue the trunk lower, with its bottom right at the floor, or trim the top of the tree.
- The card tears at the end of a cut. Stop each cut exactly at the end of its printed line. A small piece of tape on the back mends a tear.
- There is a hole in the back of the card. That is normal for a pop-up. Glue the card inside a second folded sheet to cover it, leaving the step free.