Origami Paper Bird Instructions

Making a traditional origami bird isn't hard.

Making animals and other creatures out of paper through the art of origami can be a very fun and entertaining activity. And there are so many choices as far as what you can make out of a single piece of origami paper, not to mention all the choices of colors. One frequent choice among those who practice origami is making birds, of which the unique kinds that can be picked from and made are endlessly varied. Although there is so much variety in origami birds, the traditional origami bird is a classic and may very well be the easiest to make.

Things You'll Need

• 1 sheet origami paper

Instructions

1. 

   Start with a square sheet of paper.

   Start with the colored side of your origami paper down and the paper turned to look like a diamond. Fold both the left and right edges toward the middle so that they line up along the center, forming what looks like a kite.

2. Fold the top triangle of the kite back against the opposite sides of the visible folds you first made resulting in an upside down triangle with a split.

3. Fold the upper left and right corners inward so that they align with the center and form their own small triangles. Make a crease at the lowest edge of each triangle on both sides. Unfold the previous fold. Open outward the newly creased section along the creases you've made, then fold the corner itself inward along the same creases to align with the center on each side. This time you should end up with what looks like an arrow's tip with a point coming out of it.

4. Fold the two back points of the arrow tip toward the front point of the arrow tip section. They should point out slightly past the rest of what you've made so far, since they will eventually be the feet. Fold your yet-to-be-bird's sides in toward each other down the middle (fold in half). You now are very close to having a whole bird.

5. Make an inward reverse fold at the less pointy end to which the feet are pointing. This should result in a beak that points out from the now clearly visible head of the bird.

6. Make a crimp fold (two reverse folds in which the first is inward and the second is outward) just past the back end of the bird's body a short distance into the tail.

7. 

Tips & Warnings

• Don't give up midway because it takes so much folding. Once you reach a certain point, the rest of the bird's body will take little effort to accomplish.

• Don't use regular rectangular paper to make this. These directions are tailored to square paper.

References

• David Petty: Mom 12 - Bird
• The Origami Page: Origami Basics

Resources

• Brooklyn Origami: About Origami