How to make an origami bird

Here I’ll show you how to make a simple bird that looks kind of like a raven. Then I’ll show you how to modify it so it looks more like a penguin. We’re going to start by making the square base. Fold the paper in half to make a rectangle. Criss, and then unfold. Rotate the paper and then fold in half to make the rectangle again. Criss, and then unfold.

Now, we’re going to fold in half to make a triangle. Criss, then unfold. Rotate the paper and we’re going to fold in half to make a triangle again. But this time, we’ll do it inside out. Criss, then unfold. As you unfold pop up the center, and then pinch in the sides and squash down. That’s your square base.

From the square base, we’re going to make a bird base. Pivot from the open end and fold this edge in towards in there. Do the same with the flap on the other side. Now, fold down this triangle at the top. Make a good crease as a guideline then unfold. I’ll open this end up and we’re going to reverse the folds on the sides here. Okay, that’s called our petal fold. We’re going to do the exact same thing on the other side.

And now, we have our bird base. From the bird base, fold this top flap up. Notice we have these two flaps in the middle. Fold this out and these are going to be the feet of our bird. Once you have the feet turned out, fold the body in half. Check to see if the feet are even and re-adjust if necessary. Now, we’re going to take this point and fold down in end to make the head. If that’s tricky for you, you can help yourself out by making some guidelines by creasing first.

And that’s a raven. You can actually stand it up but because of this tail, you have to stand it on the edge of the table. If you don’t want to tail, just unfold, push the tail up, and then refold. Here, let me show you how to modify the beak so that it looks more like a penguin. Open this up, and fold the beak back and on itself. Then take the point and fold the back out. And there’s your penguin.