How to Make a Paper Bird Fly

Origami is the art of folding paper into various designs and shapes. The exact origins of origami are not known but it is thought that it may have been invented in China and then refined by Japan, according to "Origami Kit For Dummies" by Nick Robinson. According to Koshiro Hatori's Origami website, the sequence used to fold paper into origami figures was traditionally passed down namelessly as no one was given credit for specific designs. Modern origami, in contrast, gives credit to the inventor of specific folding sequences and designs. Folding a flapping bird is similar to folding the traditional paper crane.



Instructions Square Base

1. Fold the paper in half corner to corner in both directions. Unfold to make creases running diagonally from corner to corner.
2. Fold the paper in half (making a rectangle), and unfold. Fold the paper in half the other way and unfold to make a crease running the opposite direction. You should now have four creases. One goes from corner to corner in each direction. One should be in the middle, horizontally, and one should be in the middle of the paper, vertically.
3. Fold the paper corner to corner to make a triangle.
4. Fold the triangle in half again to make a smaller triangle. If necessary, rotate the triangle so that the folded sides are pointing away from you and the opening is toward you. The left side should have two flaps on top of each other and the right side has one flap.
5. Open the top flap of the triangle by applying pressure to the left corner of the flap on top. Squash it down to make it square. The folded side should run along the top and the left side of the square.
6. Flip the paper over and repeat Step 5. You should now have a diamond with the opening pointing toward you and the folded edges pointing away.

Bird Base

1. Fold the left edge of the top flap to the middle to meet the center crease. Fold the right edge of the top flap to the middle to meet the center crease.
2. Fold down the top corner along the top of the two flaps folded in the previous step, then unfold. Unfold the flaps folded over in Step 1.
3. Grasp the bottom tip of the first layer and push upward to open the diamond. Fold in the sides along the creases made in Step 1. Keep pushing the top up and flatten the diamond so that the corner that was nearest to you is now pointing away from you and you now have a long diamond.
4. Flip the paper over and repeat Step 1 to Step 3. You should now have a diamond base that has two triangle "legs" on the bottom half of each side.

Flapping Bird

1. Reverse-fold both legs of the bird base up so they are at about a 45-degree angle. Make an inside reverse-fold by bringing up the tip of the leg so that the folded inside edge of the leg is against the body of the bird; the tip is pointing upward beside the triangles in the middle that will form the wing. Open the bottom leg and push with your thumb from the bottom of the base of the leg. Push this part up so that the leg is turned inside out.
2. Reverse-fold the tip of the left leg of the base that you folded up in Step 1 about 1 cm from the tip. This is the head of the bird.
3. Fold down the top flap of the middle triangle by bringing the tip down toward the head. Make the crease at about a 30-degree angle, sloping down to the right.
4. Flip the bird over and form the other wing by repeating Step 3.
5. Make the bird "fly." Hold the bird by the neck in one hand and the tail in the other. Gently pull on the tail; the wings will flap.