How to Make a Paper Fan

Video Transcript

"In this clip, we're going to see how to make a paper fan. In this clip you need some colorful paper, some scissors, a little bit of thread, some tissue paper, and a stapler. First of all, take an eight four sheet of paper, and lay it down where you can manipulate it easily. Fold it backwards from the short side. Leave the long sides. Fold the short side back, and then pull it, turn it over, and fold it that way. We're doing that good old zigzag fold; a zig, turn it that way, and a zag, a zig and a zag all the way down, all the way through so that it opens out into that kind of pattern. Each time you do a fold run your fingers all the way along it to the end, and that'll hold it nice and firm all the way along. You can do small zigzags. If you prefer, if you think it's easier to handle you can do larger ones as long as the whole piece of paper is used up. And try to keep each time this line parallel to the end line, and then it'll be nice and even. Zigs and zags in my favorite color of purple; there we go, nearly done. Now then, we've folded the flat piece of paper into a stick and that's how it makes the fan, but we can make our fans a little bit prettier than that by keeping it folded for a little bit longer, taking a pair of scissors and looking at the ends and just doing a few little curly cuts there. Instead of it being flat now it's curling, and if you open it out you can see how that gives a nice edge to it. Now then, on this fold that's sticking towards you I'm going to very carefully pinch it with my fingers, and just do a little clip in and a clip out, there. All the little bits go all over the place, but all of those holes are in every single one now, so when you open it up it looks very pretty. Now that you know what you're doing you can do your own little chops and stops, chop and stop, and then I'm cutting across the, joining those two chop and stops together. This is a fiddly cut. You might need a grownup to help you with that one cause' you must stop, there we go. What does that look like when we open it? Oh, very pretty. And another one; I'm going to try to do this as a triangle, so this chop and stop I'm pointing upwards, and stopping. Must stop with the wide or I'll cut the whole thing into loads of little pieces, and a chop and a stop there. That looks like that. And I open it; it looks very pretty indeed. So, those can go all the way down. You found this is a curving chop and stop, a bit like a curl. And I think I'll do another one of those, and then I think I'll have to stop because I've reached the base. Open it out wide, and you can see how pretty it is. That's the part that's making of the fan, but I don't want it opened like that. I'm going to keep it there, and get my stapler and staple it at the bottom through all of the layers. And then, I'd like my fan to have a tassel at the bottom, so I'm going to wrap a piece of colorful thread round it, tie it, and the tassel will just be a piece of tissue paper rolled round, and round, and round, and round, and tied on, and then cut a fringe in it. That's round, and round, and round. Tie that on round, and round, and round with a little knot, and then into that tissue I'm just going to do a few little chops and stops like that cause' it makes it pretty, and that'll dangle down at the side of your fan. And then, whenever you get too hot you just waft yourself in the face. Ooh, what a lovely cool breeze in here, whoo, whoo. That's gorgeous. I'm cooled down already. And that's how to make a paper fan."