Here’s another fun paper folding project! Make some simple origami cubes. These cubes are built from six different pieces of paper that fit together perfectly. They hold together without any tape or glue! After learning how to make paper ninja stars, my 8 year old was excited to try this project.

I found this project on Origami Mommy. I’m including instructions below, but if you prefer watching a video, I found this same cube on more than one YouTube channel as well.

Instructions

To make the cubes, you’ll need 6 pieces of square paper. We used 6 x 6 inch origami paper, which is ideal, but regular copy paper will work also.

Step 1: Start by folding a piece of paper in half, and then open it back up.

Step 2: Fold each side over to the center line and crease it well.

Step 3: Flip the paper over.

Step 4: Fold the bottom left corner up and over to the right and crease it well.

Step 5: Then fold the top right corner over to the left and crease it well. (I accidentally rotated the paper between shots – sorry!)

Step 6: Now turn the paper so that the points face directly up and down. Fold the top corner down and crease.

Step 7: Then fold the bottom corner up and crease. Your paper should look like this:

Step 8: The corners will pop back up, but that’s fine. You don’t need them to stay down anyway.

Then make five more of these paper sections! It’s fun to use 6 different colors. I tried making a cube with two colors, and it turned out a little weird. Three colors works well.

Step 9: Now it’s time to start fitting the pieces together. Slide the end flap of one piece into the center fold of another.

Then add a third paper section.

Continue adding paper sections. As the cube becomes more formed, you’ll need to bend the flaps a little to tuck them in.

Here’s how the finished cube should look.

Note: My 8 year old had a little trouble fitting his first cube together, and I discovered that half of his paper sections were oriented the wrong way. Make sure that you fold the corners the same direction each time in steps 4 and 5. Owen had reversed his, but only some of them, so it was impossible to assemble the cube.

Otherwise, kids should be able to learn to make these without much difficulty! They are fun to make, and also fun to play with and stack.

14 Comments

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  1. Sandra Jul 6, 2017

    HI
    I love your ideas, but I can't print a reasonable write up of them. We don't have internet at the cottage and I would love to have a few printouts of your ideas!

    Reply
  2. Carolyn Moffatt Jul 10, 2017

    I enjoy making it

    Reply
  3. Erin McCloghrie Oct 30, 2017

    I struggled for 20 minuets but then I realized that all the flappy things have to go the same way ):

    Reply
    1. Hater Feb 15, 2018

      This is so confusing. i have tried infinity times but it doesn't work. can you try not to lie!!!!!!

      Reply
      1. Aiptex Mar 10, 2018

        he's not lying i did the exact same steps and it worked

        Reply
        1. Benjamin Oct 20, 2018

          It was a bit hard after you folded all the pieces of the cube.

          Reply
      2. Elise Jul 25, 2018

        I got it correct the first time and then tried it with the kids and it didn't work... you need to make sure the folds are all facing the same way otherwise it won't work. So if you're finding one doesn't fit, try folding it the opposite way.. Hope that makes sense!

        Reply
        1. Person Jun 1, 2020

          I used the wrong sized paper and it still worked, so haters need to stop hatin'

          Reply
      3. kendyll Jan 17, 2019

        it works make sure you're using the right size paper!

        Reply
      4. It does work Apr 14, 2022

        It took awhile to put them together but it works!!

        Reply
  4. brabusday Oct 31, 2017

    thank you admin has poured useful science

    Reply
  5. lawrence Mar 27, 2018

    this tutorial was great!
    my friend folded it differently, but it broke in my backpack, so i used this.

    Reply
  6. Benjamin Oct 20, 2018

    It was a bit hard after you folded all the pieces of the cube.

    Reply
  7. Yeah Nov 26, 2018

    Is the paper an A4 piece or is it a square?????

    Reply
    1. Kat Apr 8, 2019

      The paper is square. :)

      Reply
  8. Martha Brown Jan 29, 2019

    My Gifted class and I made this beautiful things. This was SO MUCH FUNNNNNN!!!!!!! :) :)

    Reply
  9. Martha Brown Jan 29, 2019

    The paper is suppose to be a square @Yeah

    Reply
  10. rutugg Feb 17, 2019

    I got realy confused on step 6 and down

    Reply
  11. Anuja Damayanthi Oct 27, 2019

    Thank you. I enjoyed making it. It's very nice.

    Reply
  12. Shonny Nov 16, 2019

    I used to to make these in primary school and had lost the instructions for it, thank you for this because I can now make these with my kids for Christmas

    Reply
  13. BookwormGirl Aug 16, 2020

    Well, it was kinda average hardness for me, since I do a lot of origami. I like seeing new ones though!

    Reply
  14. lover Oct 2, 2020

    I love it I did a all white one then put quotes on the outside of them and then gave them to a friend

    Reply

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