DLTK's Crafts for Kids
Basic Origami Instructions

Origami is the art of folding a piece of paper (typically a square) into something recognizable without using glue, tape or scissors.  Check here for all the origami projects on the site!

Make sure, when folding, to be as exact as possible and to make nice crisp folds by running your finger along them, pressing them flat.

Before starting an origami project, read through these basic instructions for following an origami diagram.  It will help you understand what all the scribbles and symbols mean!  These symbols are "commonly recognized" and should be the same in pretty much any book or diagram you bump into.

Origami Lines:

Symbol	Type of Fold	Image	Description
Dotted Line	Valley Fold		A dotted line means to fold the paper so it looks like the fold is a valley between two hills.
Dots and Dashes	Mountain Fold		The opposite of a valley fold.  The dots and dashed line means to fold the paper so it looks like a mountain.
Solid Line	Crease		A solid line represents the crease you can see from a fold that has been made.

Origami Arrows:

Symbol	Image	Description
Single Line Arrow		Fold in the direction of the arrow.
Double Line Arrow	or	Fold, crease and then unfold.
Looped Arrow		Flip your paper over.

Make a rectangular piece of paper into a square:

Mountain fold the top corner of paper over.
Cut off the small rectangle below the triangle you just formed.
Unfold and now you have a square (with a crease).

Printable version of these instructions