How to Do an Easy Dinosaur Origami

Plesiosauruses were water-dwelling dinosaurs.

Because dinosaurs tend to be large, elaborate creatures, it can be very challenging to fold one out of paper. But you don't need to be an origami master to complete some common dinosaur models. There are a few dinosaur origami designs that are much easier to make. These designs, such as the plesiosaurus, are realistic looking but are much less confusing to fold. Once you master this model, you can move on to some of the more difficult dinosaur origami patterns.

Things You'll Need

• One square piece of paper

Instructions

1. Lay a square piece of paper in front of you. The colored side should face down. A corner should face you.

2. Fold the paper in half, bringing the bottom corner to meet the top corner. Crease and unfold.

3. Fold the bottom-left edge in so that it rests along the center crease. Fold the top-left edge down and in so that it too rests along the center crease.

4. Fold the top-right edge down so that it rests along the center crease. As you fold this edge, you will fold part of the left-top edge as well. This creates a small pocket at the center of the model. Fold the bottom-right edge up to rest along the center crease, creating a second pocket.

5. Reach your fingers into the top center of the model, freeing the pocket. Move it to the left and flatten it to create a small triangle shape. You need to pull part of the left edge over to the left to create the triangle. Free the bottom pocket and flatten it as well.

6. Pull the bottom half of the model behind the top half, folding the model in half while keeping the front exposed.

7. Fold the small center triangle down on a diagonal to the right so that its top-left edge rests along the vertical center line. Repeat on the triangle on the other side of the model.

8. Fold the left-hand corner up on a diagonal so that it is at a right angle to the center of the model. Crease and unfold. Open the left corner slightly. Using the crease you just made as a guide, push the bottom edge of the corner up so that the corner turns inside out and stands upright. It looks the same as the fold you made previously, but that fold is now tucked inside the model. This is an inside reverse fold.

9. Note the two sharp corners, at the front and back of the model, at the left side. They are at the base of the "neck" of the dinosaur. Fold these corners inside, hiding them in the neck, so that you are left with a straight neck. How much you fold will determine the exact shape and size of the neck.

10. Perform a small inside reverse fold at the top of the neck to create the head. Fold downward. How much you fold depends on how large you want the head to be. Tuck the tip of this corner back in on itself to create a blunt snout.

11. Open the right corner -- the tail of the dinosaur -- slightly. Fold the right end of the tail up and in on itself, then back down to create a crimp. Draw a pair of eyes and perhaps a little mouth on the head to complete the origami plesiosaurus.

References

• Origami Club: A Plesiosaurus
• “Practical Origami”; Rick Beech: 2006