How to Make a Paper Boat Out of Newspaper

Make your own paper boats out of newspaper.

Paper crafts are fun and easy—a great way to spend an afternoon with kids. The classic boat will even float in water. All you need is a rectangular piece of paper. You can use traditional origami paper, which is much thinner than regular paper and comes in lots of colors. But it doesn’t really matter what type of paper you use to make the boat. Follow these steps to use a newspaper page to create a simple paper boat.

Things You'll Need

• Rectangular newspaper page

Instructions

1. Lay the newspaper page vertically on a flat surface. Make sure the paper you use is rectangular. It doesn’t have to be exact, but it should be relatively proportional to a letter-size piece of paper.

2. Fold the paper in half from left to right. Crease and unfold.

3. Fold the paper in half from top to bottom.

4. Fold the top two corners down to meet the center line, forming two triangles. There will be a strip of paper below the two triangles.

5. Fold the front layer of the bottom strip up, creasing along the edge of the two triangles. Do the same on the back layer. You’ll have a shape that looks like a pointed hat with a rim.

6. Pull the sides of the model outwards and flatten, forming a square shape.

7. Point the corner with the open layers toward you. Fold the front layer flap up to meet the top corner, forming a triangle. Do the same on the back layer.

8. Pull the sides outwards and flatten, again forming a square shape.

9. Pull the top flaps outward and flatten, forming two trapezoid shapes on each side of the model. Flatten and crease well. Open the sides to complete the boat.

References

• Origami Fun: Origami Boat Instructions
• Origami Kids: The Classic Boat