How to Make Paper Ships for Free

You can make a basic paper ship in a few minutes.

Making paper boats or ships has been a favorite paper craft for children and adults. Maybe you recall using plain notebook paper to make a simple boat during class or maybe you enjoy making them as a hobby. There are numerous free paper ship design ideas online. You can find basic paper ship designs, or more complex designs, including those using origami, papier mache and newspaper.

Things You'll Need

• 1 sheet of construction paper (8.5-inches by 11-inches)
• Color pencils or crayons

Instructions

Basic Paper Ship

1. Place the paper on a table vertically (lengthwise, 11-inches from top to bottom). Fold the sheet in half and crease it by pressing and smoothing it with your fingers.

2. Fold the paper in half horizontally or from left to right. Crease it by pressing and smoothing it with your fingers.

3. Open the creased construction paper horizontally. You should have two equal rectangles.

4. Fold down the left end of one rectangle, on the creased side of the paper, until it reaches the center crease (The resulting shape should be a triangle). Leave about two inches at the bottom of the paper unfolded. Smooth and crease the diagonal side of the triangle.

5. Turn the paper over. Repeat step 4 and fold down the right end of the second rectangle.

6. Fold the bottom piece two inches toward the tip of the triangle or top of the boat. Crease the folded side.

7. Turn the paper over. Repeat step 6.

8. Pick up the triangular piece of paper. Open the bottom of the paper with your thumbs inserted inside and gently stretch the triangle open (It should look like a small hat.) Tuck in all edges around the paper using your thumb.

9. Place the paper on the table and smooth all the edges with your fingers. (It should like a folded rhombus or parallelogram.)

10. Lift up one of the bottom flaps of the rhombus while holding the open side down and creasing the fold. Flip it over and repeat the step to fold the other flap. (The shape of your paper should be a triangle.)

11. Pick up the triangular piece of paper and repeat the step 8.

12. Crease the rhombus edges. With your index fingers and thumbs, pick up two outer tips of the rhombus, stretch the tips away from each other and flatten and crease the paper.

13. Turn the ship over and stretch out the sides to make the bottom of the boat slightly wider. Flip the ship back over and sit it on a flat surface to see if it stands. If not, widen the bottom some more.

14. Use colored pencils to decorate the ship or write a name.

References

• Utexas.edu: Paper boat
• Mathematische-basteleien.de: Paper Boat
• Spacestation42.com: Boats, Ships and Subs Paper Models