Instructions on How to Make a Paper Boat

A fleet of completed paper boats

The paper boat is one of the most pleasing origami forms. Throughout its creation, the paper remains entirely dissimilar from a boat in form. Finally, in the last step, we pull apart our paper to reveal an elegant sailboat.

Things You'll Need

• 8 1/2- by 11-inch paper

Instructions

1. Place the paper in front of you in a vertical orientation. Fold the paper in half from top to bottom.

2. Fold the paper in half,from left to right, and unfold to find the center line.

3. Take the top corners of the paper and fold them in to the center line as if you were making a paper airplane. Your paper should now resemble a triangle sitting atop a flat rectangle.

4. Take only the top layer of the flat rectangle and fold it up, over the bottom of the triangle. Tuck the corners at the top of the flat rectangle around the back of the triangle.

5. Turn the paper over and fold the other flat rectangle as well. Do not fold the tips of this rectangle.

6. At this point, your paper should resemble a hat. Pick up the hat from the center of the rectangle. Separate the separate sections of paper between your thumbs and pull outward until you've flattened your paper into a square.

7. Set the square down like a diamond with the separated part at the bottom. Take only the top part of the lower half of the diamond and fold it upward.

8. Flip the diamond over and do the same with the other part of the lower half of the diamond. We now have another hat.

9. Pull the hat into a square again. Set the square down as a diamond.

10. 

    The paper boat as we pull the top of the diamond apart

    Pull the top of the diamond outward in opposite directions. Your diamond should now unfold into a seaworthy sailing vessel.

References

• Mathematical Tinkering: Paper Boat