The original version of this activity was written by Jenny Piggott in 2009. The paper-folding that Jenny describes featured in July 2010 at her own retirement event. Fran Watson introduced it to us on that day and below you can listen to Fran explaining why she chose this particular activity.
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Three squares folded longways into four making mountains and valleys. |
Fold each strip in half, then in quarters folding into the centre. |
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Fold each strip along the diagonals of each square as shown. Now you are ready to start assembling. |
Treat the two end triangles (or square) as a flap. A flap on one strip is pushed into the second square (between the layers) of another strip so that the valleys and folds coincide. |
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Now put the flap of a third strip between the layers of the second square on the second strip. | And finally, complete the corner by inserting the flap of the first strip into the second square of the third strip. |
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Three squares double-folded longways with opposite corners folded and folded again. | Outside strips folded into the centre. |
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Opposite corners are then folded to the centre line. | Tuck each flap into the pockets formed from the intial double-folds. |
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Turn each unit over and fold to form four triangles. | Each of the end triangles of a unit is a flap. All four triangles have pockets to help with linking units together. |
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Join three pieces by slotting a flap into the pocket behind a middle triangle of another unit. | Finally, join the spare flap on the third unit to the first unit to form a vertex. |