I learned to fold this bird from my mother a long time ago. And even before I had a daughter, it proved to be a very handy skill. This way you can create a little toy anywhere and make children smile. A few years ago we made a trip to Bhutan. In one village I folded about 7 of these little birds. Some of these birds travelled ahead because the next day when we arrived in the next village, I saw children playing with my birds. All you need is a square piece of paper. And learn the folding instructions by heart ;)

what you’ll need:
• (scrap) paper
• some pencils or stamps to decorate

Step 1 – prep your piece of paper
Draw or make a pattern on your piece of paper. Make it into a square. (if you don’t have a pair of scissors, make the fold ultra sharp and tear along the side)

Step 2 – make the basic folds and shape
First we have to make an origami bird base. Fold your square straight across and diagonal. Open after every fold. Now we make a star shape. Fold one of the sides along the diagonal fold. Fold from the right-angled fold towards the end. Do this both ways, eight times. When you open the paper you have a 4-point star shape.

Now we have to fold the paper into a diamond shape. It’s hard to explain in words, so I hope you can follow the pictures. There is also a different technique.

Step 3 – fold the bird
Now you have the diamond shape in front of you, fold the longer part downwards. Flip. Repeat. Now fold sideways. Flip. Repeat. You have two pointy things in the middle. I turned the shape, so the two pointy things point up. Fold the longer end (wings) back up. Flip. Repeat. Now pull the pointy things out to the left and right and fold. Make a head on one end. Curl the wings a little towards the head. The bird is finished.

Step 4 – fly
Hold the base (on the head end) with two fingers and pull with your other hand the tail with a horizontal movement. The first time will be a little rigid, gently pull through. Let’s fly away!