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PlayOwl
A blue paper fish with orange, yellow, green and red strips woven through its body in a checkerboard, with a big eye and a smile.
The finished project.

Paper craft

Woven Paper Fish

  • Easy (level 2 of 5)
  • 25 min
  • 11 steps
  • Ages 5–9 (a guide, not a rule)
  • Uses scissors
  • Uses glue
  • Adult help suggested
Start Making Print with template

Weaving is how cloth and baskets are made: strips go over, then under, then over again. Here you weave four paper strips through slits in a paper fish, so its body turns into a checkerboard of colors. The template has the fish and the strips; color them, cut them out and start weaving.

Before you start

You need

Decorating (optional): Color the fish one color and each strip a different color before you cut. Add an eye and a smile at the end.

No printed template on printer paper (letter or a4)? Instead of coloring the strips, cut four strips 1.5 x 10 cm (5/8 x 4 in) from colored paper. Print the template on colored paper to skip coloring the fish.

For the grown-up: Help with the slits: the fish is folded in half and each slit is cut from the fold up to the dot, never past it.

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). Check that the 5 cm bar measures 5 cm. Lay the sheet printed side up.
  • Valley fold: blue dashes. Fold toward you, like a valley.
  • 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.
  • 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: draw, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 1 result Result
    Step 1 of 11 Draw Color the fish one color. Color each strip a different color.
  2. Step 2: cut, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 2 result Result
    Step 2 of 11 Cut Cut out the fish along its outside line.
  3. Step 3: cut, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 3 result Result
    Step 3 of 11 Cut Cut out the four strips along their lines. (The rest of the sheet has been put aside; only the strips are left on it.)
  4. Step 4: mountain fold, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 4 result Result
    Step 4 of 11 Mountain fold Fold the fish in half along the long dashed line, folding the bottom half behind. (The fish is shown bigger. Put the strips aside for now.)
  5. Step 5: cut, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 5 result Result
    Step 5 of 11 Cut Cut along each short line, from the fold up to the dot. Stop at the dot!
  6. Step 6: unfold, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 6 result Result
    Step 6 of 11 Unfold Open the fish flat again. It has four slits across its body.
  7. Step 7: weave, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 7 result Result
    Step 7 of 11 Weave Weave strip 1 near the top: push it down through a slit, up through the next one, and so on.
  8. Step 8: weave, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 8 result Result
    Step 8 of 11 Weave Weave strip 2 just below it, starting the other way: under, over, under.
  9. Step 9: weave, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 9 result Result
    Step 9 of 11 Weave Weave strips 3 and 4 the same way, taking turns. Push the strips close together.
  10. Step 10: glue, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 10 result Result
    Step 10 of 11 Glue Dab glue under each strip end on the front and press it flat. Turn the fish over and do the same on the back.
  11. Step 11: draw, shown on the paper Do this
    Step 11 result Result
    Step 11 of 11 Draw Draw a big eye and a smile. Your fish is ready to swim!
A blue paper fish with orange, yellow, green and red strips woven through its body in a checkerboard, with a big eye and a smile.

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.

  • Woven fish and four weaving strips (preview, not to scale) Woven fish and four weaving strips · 180 × 192 mm. The fish is 16 cm (6.3 in) long and each strip is 9.6 x 1.5 cm. Print at 100% on Letter or A4 paper.
Print the template

If something goes wrong

A slit went all the way to the edge.

Put a small piece of tape over the end of the slit on the back, or glue a scrap of paper behind it.

The strips are hard to push through.

Bend the fish gently so the slit opens, or make the strips a little narrower.

The checkerboard does not line up.

Each strip starts the opposite way from the one above it: over first, then under first.

Helpful hints

  • Color the strips in bright colors that are different from the fish, so the pattern shows.
  • Slide each strip up close to the one before it before you glue.

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