Flapping Butterfly

"The art of folding shapes from an uncut sheet of paper is called origami, which is a Japanese word meaning "folded paper" (Lang 6). Origami does not require anything except paper, so it is something that almost anybody can do. In this blog, I will be showing you how to make a flapping butterfly with paper, and only paper.

Materials:
-Paper
-Hands

Step 1: Fold a square piece of paper

 in half, then cut it on the crease.

Step 2: fold the paper in half, like the picture, then
fold the 4 corners in to the center crease.

Step 3: Fold the paper together then make a crease
by folding the bottom edges up and pinch
through both layers t the center, but do not
crease the entire length of the paper.

Step 4: Bring the wing tips together so that the crease
made in step 4 is on the outside. Insert a finger into the
loop while holding the wingtips together, then slide your
fingers down to form the paper snugly around your finger.

Step 5: Reinforce the dent in the paper that
was made in step 3.

 

Finally, with a finger and thumb on each side of the body, pinch the fingers together to make the butterfly flap its wings!

That is how you make an origami flapping butterfly. Are you someone who usually likes to skip instructions and doesn't like reading them? Well, with origami it is very important to read the instructions and look at the pictures of how to make the origami projects. Even in the book Origami In Action it says, "You'll have the best luck folding if you look at each step AND read the words underneath each step before you start folding" (Lang 9). so obviously it is good to read the instructions so you know what you are doing.

Citation: Lang, Robert J. Origami in Action: Paper Toys That Fly, Flap, Gobble, and Inflate! New York, St. Martin's Griffin, 1997.