How to Make an Origami Falcon

The word origami comes from the Japanese words "ori" which means folding and "kamiu" which means paper. The art, which is originally Chinese, began in the 1st or 2nd century. Learn how to make an origami falcon and help continue the life of this art for centuries to come.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Make a diagonal valley fold by folding your square piece of paper in half so it forms a triangle. Make a good crease by running your fingers along the fold and pressing down.

2. Measure up about a centimeter or almost a half an inch up from the fold. Hold the fold down and pleat back one side of the triangle so it is facing away from the fold. Press along this new fold so that it makes a good crease.

3. Fold over one-half of one of the triangle's base points until it meets the base of the new fold or crease you made. Press this new fold down as well.

4. Go to about midway down the new fold and bend the side point of the triangle back out so it's pointing back in its original direction (away from the center.) This will form one of the wings of the origami falcon.

5. Repeat Steps 3 and 4 to create the other wing of the origami falcon. Be sure to press down making a good crease with each new fold you make.

6. Flip the paper over so the folds you made are against the table's surface.

7. Create another valley crease by bending the other point (the top of the triangle you haven't folded yet) back. Its tip will be about a half an inch shorter than the other. Press the fold down with your fingers.

8. Pleat the other tip back down so that it's facing its original position. Be sure to start the fold about an inch away from the valley fold you made in step eight. The origami falcon is beginning to look a little more bird-like.

9. Form the beak by folding the tip of the original triangle (see step two) back about an inch or a little more. Bend the tip so that it faces away from the body again.

10. Divide the origami falcon in half by making a valley fold. The wing tips should match evenly when you fold them to meet each other.

11. Open the wings by making a long, diagonal fold from just behind the origami falcon's head to just above the center fold in the body. Do the same for the other side.

12. Give a little more dimension to the head of the origami falcon's head by making small, diagonal folds on either side of the beak.

13. Allow the origami falcon "flight" by bending the wings up so that they extend perpendicularly from the origami falcon's body.

Resources

• Michael Webb demonstrates how to make an origami falcon.
• Paperfolding has helpful diagrams.