Origami Basics: Learn To Fold 7 Origami Animals

1. Intro: Hi everyone. In this course I'm going to teach you how to fold seven origami animals. These will include a rabbit, a penguin, a pig, or a dog, and elephant, a rooster. And my personal favorite, a really cute fox. This is a beginner course, so you don't need any previous experience with origami to be able to fold these. All you need is some paper. Anytime we encounter a new type of fold, I'll walk through it really slowly and as clearly as I can so everyone can follow along. My name is Kevin and I'm an origami artist. I've been folding and designing my own origami for over ten years and I love teaching new people how to fold. I find origami to be a very meditative and fulfilling art form and I'm excited to share it with you. This course is part of a larger series I have on skill share all about origami. I have courses on birds, boats, boxes, flowers, modular origami dollar origami action models and much more. You can find links to all those other courses out in the description of this course and make sure to click follow so you don't miss out on any of my future origami courses. I hope you have so much fun folding these that you want to learn more. But let's get down to folding. I'll see you in the next video. 2. Paper Choices: One of the best parts about origami is you don't need any special tools or expensive supplies to get started. All you need is paper. In each of these videos, I'll be using an ordinary pack of 6-inch origami paper that can be found at most craft stores. It could also be ordered online. Now, can't find origami paper. Pretty much any paper will work. You could try the scrapbooking section. They usually have all sorts of different kinds of paper with patterns and colors. You can also use standard printer paper, newspaper, music paper, pages from an old book, or really any kind of paper, just as long as you cut it down into a square. Now this origami paper has the color on one side and white on the other, which is perfect for all of the animals we're going to fold. Now if you only have paper that has the same color on both sides, it will still work. The pig, dog or elephant will look exactly the same, but the penguin, rabbit, rooster, or Fox will look a bit different. The Fox and rabbit will still look really cool, but the Penguin or rooster won't look as great with just one color. So you might want to skip those videos, or you could try painting one side of the paper, or you could glue to different colors together. There's a ton of different options for papers, so don't be afraid to get creative. 3. Penguin: In this first video, we're going to learn how to fold a penguin. This one's really easy. It only involves a couple of creases, but it makes a really cool-looking penguin. They effect doesn't really work as well if you have a sheet of paper that only has one color on it, so it's best to use a paper that has two colors. Plus is a fun, easy one to fold and it can stand up on its own. So let's get down to it. Now we're going to start with the colored side up. No a valley fold in half along the diagonal. So we'll bring this right corner over to the left corner. Make sure both of those corners line up and then you can crease it all the way across and then unfold. Now we'll turn the paper over. Now we're going to make a valley fold that starts from this corner on the top and it runs out in this direction. And we'll be bringing this edge over, but it's not going to come all the way into the center. It'll be a little bit away from the center. So I'll show you what that looks like. You want to make sure it starts all the way from the top. And then will swing this edge over. So there's a little bit of space before that center crease. There's no exact reference for this, but this will be the belly of the Penguin folded over about that much and then crease it down. So we're gonna do the same thing on the left side, but we wanna make sure it's symmetrical. So to do that, we can turn the paper over and then will reform this valley fold we have from the side. And now we're going to bring this edge down. As we do that will make sure it starts from that top corner. And then you can just swivel this around until it lines up with the edge that's underneath. So it should line up just right with the one underneath it and then you can increase that down. Then we can unfold it back to this stage. And these two sides should be symmetrical. Now. Now turn the whole thing over. And there's no reference for this crease either, but will make a valley fold that starts about right here and runs out this direction. I will show you what that looks like. You fold it in about this much. We do want to make this edge parallel with this vertical crease down about that much. And you can see this edge is now parallel with this crease. Now I wanna do the same thing on the other side, but again, we wanna make it symmetrical. So if you form this valley fold we already have, then you can fold this corner over directly along that edge that we just made. And then you can open it up and took that inside. So when you open it up, it should look like that. And now we're going to make a valley fold that connects these two points. Will fold this bottom corner up. And you want to make sure this crease starts from one of these points. And then this corner should lie right along this vertical crease. Now will valley fold the whole thing in half along this existing crease? Next we will be making the head. We're going to make an outside reverse fold to form the head. But we'll start by decreasing, so we'll make a valley fold. This is also done to tastes like most of the creases in this one, but folded down about this much. It's okay if your heads a little bigger or a little smaller or at a different angle. And make that valley fold then will unfold it. Now we need to turn that into an outside reverse fold. So to do that, we're going to open this up. Then we're going to swing this point down. And as we do this, well re-form the valley fold we have right here. And then as we reform this crease, it's going to turn into a valley fold as well. And then as we close everything backup, we can press it all down. And then we're all done with the penguin should be able to stand up on its own. And you could adjust any of these creases, but you can definitely adjust the head to make it stick straight out, to make it point down further. You can make it a smaller head. So a lot of different things you can do is it definitely play around with that. But I think it looks great like this. I hope yours looks great and you can post a photo down on the project section, and I'll see you in the next video. 4. Fox: In this video, I'm going to teach you how to fold a fox. Out of all the simple origami is, I know this one is my absolute favorite. And it looks great if you use a sheet of paper that has only one color. But I think it looks even better with paper that has two colors. This is a really easy one to fold and I love that we can fold something this cool really quickly. And it even has the little tail so it can stand up on its own. I hope you like this 12. Let's get started. And we're going to start with the colored side down. And we're going to valley fold in half along both in the diagonals. So we'll bring this right corner over to the left corner. Hold those two corners in place and crease it all the way across. And then unfold. Now bring the bottom corner up to the top corner, corner to corner. Next, we're going to bring this corner on the right and we're going to fold it all the way up to these corners on the top. When you do that, this edge should live vertical and do the same thing on the left. Bring that point up to the top. Now turn the whole thing over. Now we're going to valley fold with just one layer. No valley folds. You wanna run between these two corners. So the, this with just the top layer swinging all the way down to the bottom corner. Next well valley fold the whole thing in half. And I'll rotate a little bit and you'll see we have the three points up top. And then just 1 on the left. Now we're gonna make a valley fold that starts from this corner on the bottom right. And it runs up this direction. We're gonna do this through all of the layers. So I'll show you about how much to fold. This doesn't have to be exact. So we'll just affect how big the ears and the head are. About like that and then off crease it down nice and firm. So it goes through all of the layers and then unfold. Next, we're going to look inside. If you see these three points, we are going to find the very center. So there's a total of six layers here. Then you're going to spread it open. So there's three layers on the right and then three layers on the left. And so take those three layers on the left and fold them over. Then as you do that, you should have this 1 right here. We want to swing that down symmetrically. So then the point should lie right along this edge. Next, we just need to form the tail. So we'll do this with just a little valley fold. No reference for this either, but just about like that. And then we have our FOX. It should be able to stand up on its own. Now I hope yours looks great. This is probably my favorite simple origami. It's really quick to fold, but it just looks amazing. Make sure to take a photo of yours and post it down in the project section, and then I'll see you in the next video. 5. Elephant: In this video, we're going to learn how to fold an elephant. This is a really cute little elephant and it's pretty easy to fold. I'm going to teach two different ways to fold it. All of the beginning steps are the same, but the last three steps are just a little bit different. I'll teach you the sitting Elephant and the shouting elephant. Sitting elephant just uses inside reverse folds where the shouting elephant uses outside reverse folds. But I'll go over all of that when we get to it. I like the way both of them look a lot. And it's really cool that just with a few minor changes, it can completely change the way a model looks. It's a great way to demonstrate how much you can change something just by adding your own flair to it. So let's get down to folding. And we're going to start with the colored side down. And we'll valley fold in half along the diagonal. So we'll bring this right corner over to the left corners. Line both of those corners up and then it can preach it all the way across. And then unfold. Now we'll bring this edge on the top right into lie along that center crease we just made just make sure that lines up all the way to the corner on the top. And then crease it down. And then do the same thing with the edge on the top left. Now, turn the whole thing over. And I'll bring this point on the top down to the point on the bottom. And then increase that. Next we're going to valley fold this point back up. And do that about this much. No reference for that. Just folded up about this much is making sure to keep this center crease vertical. And then turn the whole thing over. We're going to bring this point on the bottom up to the point where the colors change and the center. Now, well valley fold the whole thing in half. Next we're going to be swiveling this edge around a little bit. So I'll show you how to do this. We're going to grab this point and we're going to push it this direction. Looting to hold the other portion of the paper with your other hand. And you just push gently until this crease swivels just a little bit. Press it all back down. Now this is the point where you can make either a sitting elephant or a shouting elephant. So I'm going to show you with the blue paper how to make the elephant that's sitting where the trunk will go down. And then with the gray paper, I'm going to show you how to make the shouting elephant or the trunk goes up. So we'll start with the blue paper. We're going to make an inside reverse fold with the trunk. Now there's no exact reference for this. But well, swing the point through. And then once we have it about great here you want to line up this edge so it's roughly parallel was this edge. And then we'll make another inside reverse fold. This one's going to start from where these two edges meet. Folded out about like that. Then we'll just make a small inside reverse fold right on the end, just so it's not quite as pointy. And there we have our sitting elephant should stand up on its own. Next, we'll move over to the gray paper and make the shouting elephants. So this time we're going to need to make an outside reverse fold. So we'll open this up and pop through to the other side. And once we have it over there, you can swivel the paper around. There's no reference for this one either. But we'll be getting it about right here. And then we'll make another outside reverse fold. This one will start right from where these edges meet. And then we'll make just a small inside reverse fold on the tip. Just like that. Now we have our shouting elephant. So you can see just by changing those last couple steps, it can really affect the way it looks. Both of them look really cool. And I always love when small changes like that can affect the emotion of a model so much. I hope yours look great. You can try folding both of those and see which one you like more. You could even try adding more outside or inside reverse folds to either one and come up with your own men. Of course, make sure to post those photos down in the project section and I'll see you in the next video. 6. Rooster: In this video, we're going to learn how to fold a rooster. This is a really cool or can one doesn't look quite as good if you only have paper with one color. So I definitely recommend using two colored paper. I do really love the way this one looks with the color change on it. So let's get started. And we're going to start with the colored side up. Now we're going to valley fold in half along both of the diagonals will bring this bottom right corner up to the top left corner. And then increase that all the way across. And then unfold. Now will bring in the bottom left corner and bring it up to the top right corner. And then increase that corner to corner. Now will rotate it. So now these two corners should be on top. We're gonna take this top corner and with just the top layer, we're going to bring it all the way down to the center on the bottom edge, but we're only going to make a small pinch mark in the middle. So line that up on the bottom and then just make a small pinch and then unfold it. Now we're going to take that same corner and fold it down to that pinch mark that we just made. And then make a crease all the way across there. And now we'll turn the whole thing over right to left. Now we're going to fold this layer down and we're going to line it up with the edge that we have behind that we just made. Next, we're going to fold this corner up. We're gonna make a valley fold right here. There's no exact reference for this. But we'll fold it up about this much. Next, we're going to valley fold the whole thing in half along this crease in the center. Next we're going to take this flap and we're going to be folding the wings. So we're going to fold it up. There's no reference for this one either. So I'll just show you it's going to be folded up about this much. So this is just done to taste. It doesn't have to be exact, but it should look about like that. And then we'll turn the whole thing over. And we're going to repeat that on this side. We just wanna make it symmetrical, so full that over and then just line it up with the point that we have underneath. And we can increase that. Next will rotate this. Now for this next one, we're going to be swiveling this edge over. So just watch this 1 first and then do it yourself. But we're going to grab this point right here and we're going to tug gently on the top layer. And as we bring that point up, we're going to make a crease that runs from this point right here all the way down to this point. So we'll roll the paper over until we get it to align with that point on the bottom. And now it should stand up on its own. But we are all done with our rooster. I hope yours looks awesome. Post a photo down in the project section and then I'll see you in the next video. 7. Pig: In this video, we're going to learn how to fold a pig. This one has four legs, then it's got a tail and a snouts. It can stand up on its own. Let's get started. Now we're going to start with the colored side up. Now will valley fold in half along the horizontal? So we'll bring this bottom edge up to meet the top edge. First, make sure that edge lines up corner to corner, and then you can increase it down. And then unfold. Now we'll turn the paper over right to left. Next we'll bring this top edge until lie along that center crease we just made. Then you increase that down and do the same thing with the bottom edge, bring it up to that center crease. Increase that. Next we're going to take the top half of this edge on the right and we're going to fold it into that center crease. So I'll show you what that looks like. So that edge should line up right here. Then you increase. It will do the same thing with the other three corners. So this bottom right corner, we'll fold that up and that edge should align up right in the middle as well. And we'll do the same thing with the two corners on the left. And now we can unfold all four of those. Next we're going to make a valley fold that runs between where these creases meet the edge. Will folded edge in. And then just look closely and make sure you start your crease were right where that crease meets the edge. And then it should end in the same spot on the bottom of the paper. Will do the same thing on the left side. This one will be a little easier, can actually bring this engine to line up with this edge and then unfold both of those. Next, we're going to turn these creases right here into a squash fold. So to do this will open up this flap right here so it can swing freely. And we're going to valley fold over along this crease that we already have in place. And then as we do that, we're going to reverse this crease and turn it into a mountain fold. And then adds your folding, all that, this crease underneath will form. And the whole area should turn into a little triangle. And we just press all that down. Then we'll repeat that on the bottom. Is foldover along that valley fold should all happen pretty naturally since we already have the criticism place. And do the same thing on the left side. Now we're going to mountain fold the entire thing in half along the existing crease we already have. Next we're going to start to form the legs. So we'll look at this flap on the right, that's right here. We're going to take this edge and we're going to align it with this vertical crease. Now that should line up vertically right here. Then we'll do the same thing on the left side will take this edge and line it up with this crease. Now turn the whole thing over. And then we'll repeat that on this side. So we'll take this edge and line it up with the crease. Same on the left. Next we're going to bring this point on the right up to this point right here. That'll make a valley fold that runs out this way. This folded up, these edges should line up right here. And then unfolded. And now we're going to turn that into an inside reverse fold. So we're going to be taking this point and we're going to swing it through the center. And as we do this, this crease will reform. And then this crease will reverse. And then the crease running down right here will reverse as well. This happens pretty naturally since we have all the creases in place would all go really slowly. Just swing that point through and then close it up. Next we're going to take this point and we're going to swing it back out with another inside reverse fold. This will be to form the tail. There's no exact a reference for this one. But just watch closely and then try to mimic it little bit. So it looks like that. It doesn't have to be exact. The list effect if your tail is a little lower, a little higher. Now we're gonna move on to this side. We need to make another inside reverse fold. But this will be done in a different spot than it was on the other side. So a valley fold this up about that much. See there's a little gap before the leg. And then this point pokes above this edge. And it will unfold that and turn that into an inside reverse fold, just like we did on the other side. Swing that point through and then close it up. And then that forms the snout. Now are pig is all done, should be able to stand up on its own. If you pull these legs out a little bit. Now I hope yours looks great. I'd love to see it. Take a photo and post it down in the project section, and then I'll see you in the next video. 8. Rabbit: In this video, we're going to learn how to pull a rabbit. This one does show both colors of the paper. So depending on which side you start with up, then it will look either like this one with the colors where the ears are or it will have the white side where the ears are. In this video, I'll be folding one that looks like this with the whites inside the ears. I actually like the other one a little bit better, but this one's easier to teach since it's easier to see the creases from the other side of the paper, but both of them look awesome. So let's get down to it. Now we're going to start with the colored side up. And now we'll valley fold in half along both of the diagonals. So we'll bring this top right corner down to the bottom left corner. Line, both of those corners up, then they increase it all the way across. And then unfold. Then we're in the top left corner down to the bottom right corner. Crease that one. And then unfold. Now we'll turn the paper over. Now a valley, fold it in half along the vertical and the horizontal. So we'll bring this right edge over to the left edge, line it up corner to corner. Then unfolds. Then bring the top edge down to the bottom edge. And then unfold. Next we're going to form all of these creases at the same time. So to do that, we're going to take opposite corners and then we're going to bring them down to meet a third corner. As you do that, all of the creases should start to form. And then you can bring that fourth corner down to meet the other three. And it should form a nice square with two flaps on the right and two flaps on the left. And just make sure yours is oriented like this with the opening at the bottom. Now we're gonna take this edge on the bottom left and we're going to bring it into the center crease. And we'll do this with just one flap. And then do the same thing with the edge on the bottom right. Next we're gonna make a valley fold right along these edges. So to swing this top point down right along those edges. And then increase it. And then unfold that and unfold the other two flaps. Now we're going to turn those into a pedal fold. So to do that, we're going to take just one layer and we're going to fold that one layer up along this valley fold that we made. And then as we do that, these two creases underneath are going to form. And then where we have these two creases that are going to reverse their direction. But everything that happens will be on existing creases. So we swing this point up. And then as we form these two creases, if you just keep swinging that point up, those other creases should happen pretty naturally since we already have them in place. And then we can swing this flap down. Should look like that. Now I will turn the whole thing over. We're going to repeat those steps on this side. So bring this edge on the bottom left into the center crease. And then same thing with edge on the bottom right. And then make a crease that runs along these edges. And then unfold. And turn that into the pedal fold. Take just that top layer and swing it up. Reform those creases. And then this time we can actually leave this point up. Now we're going to mountain fold the entire thing in half. Now if you notice there's three points on the right and then just one on the left. So just make sure you have yours oriented the same way that I do. Next, we're going to take this edge and we're going to valley fold through all of the layers. And we're going to bring that edge up to this center crease. And want to press that down firmly and to make sure it goes through all the layers then will unfold up. Next, we're going to turn that into an outside reverse fold. So to do that, we just open this up. So we're looking right in the center. And then we're going to reverse the direction of this crease right here. And then just a reform this crease and close it all back up. And then it should look like that. Next we're going to outside reverse fold this point back out. So we'll take this point and, and kinda pop it through. Noah's swing this point down. And I'll show you where the references are. So we wanna make this so that this edge, the crease should start from right where these points meet right here. We're just about there. And then we can have it. So this edge is just above this point. This doesn't have to be exact. But if we make it look like that, then we're going to take this point and inside reverse fold it. So it will swing that through. Just about that much. We'll close it up. Next. We're going to inside reverse fold this point on the left. So there's no exact reference for this. So just to watch where I fold this one, swing that point through about that much of an angle. Then we are going to inside reverse fold that point back out this direction. And for this one, it's going to be about this much. And so I wanna make sure you have a little bit of paper there for the feet. And then some paper there for the tail pointing out like that. And then we'll make one more inside reverse fold on the end of the tail. So it's not quite as pointy. Then if we just look up at the IRS, you'll see there's the white on the inside here. We'll just open up the ear Slightly. Let's do this really gently just so they stay open and you can see both colors. Do that with both of the ears. Then it should be able to stand up on its own. But we are all done. Make sure to take a photo of yours and posted down in the project section, and then I'll see you in the next video. 9. Dog: In this video, we're going to learn how to fold a dog. This is a fun one to fold, but it does have a couple of steps that are a bit different than anything we've encountered so far. So I'll try to go really slowly and explain those clearly. But we don't get into anything too crazy. So let's get started. Now we're going to start with the colored side down. And we'll valley fold in half along this diagonal. So we'll bring in the right corner over to the left corner. This line, both of those corners up and then crease it all the way across. And then unfold. Next, we'll bring this edge on the top right until I along that center crease that we just made this line that edge up, make sure it extends all the way up to the corner on the top. And then you can increase that down. And do the same thing on the left, takes this top left edge and align it with that center crease. Now turn the whole thing over. Next, we'll bring list top point and bring it all the way down to the corner on the bottom. And then crease that. Next will take that same points. We're going to swing it back up, but we're gonna make a valley fold about rate here. There's no exact reference for this. But we'll fold it up about this much. You just want to make sure this crease stays vertical. Now we'll turn that whole thing over. And we're gonna take this top point and we're going to bring it down to this point right here where the colors change. Then we're gonna take the bottom corner and bring that up to the same point. Next we're going to take this point and we're going to valley fold it up. Making a valley fold right between these two edges. So it should be just about halfway in between those edges. It doesn't have to be perfect. But try to aim for halfway between these edges. Next, we'll take that top point and we're going to bring it down to this edge in the center. Next we'll valley fold the whole thing in half along the crease we already have. Now this next step is pretty unique. So we're going to be making a valley fold that runs from appointments underneath here. It's actually, if you look from the inside, it's this point right here. It's going to extend from that point out this direction to about right here. So I'll fold this first and then just watch closely and then try it for yourself after. So we'll swing this edge over. And he goes look inside, you'll see where this crease is starting from. Start to make that crease right from that point in there. And then once we've started the crease, we can sort of roll this flap around. And we want this edge to lie along the edge underneath. And so it'll look like that. And then we can make that a firm crease. Now we want to have the same crease on the other side, but it's easiest to do that just as a mountain fold. If we just fold this flap behind right along the edge we just made, we'll turn it over and you can see it looks the same on both sides. Next we're going to look up here where the nose is. We're going to be tugging the paper out of the nose a little bit until we have this edge being parallel with this edge that's down here. So I'll show you what I mean are going to grasp the paper with your left hand and your right hand. And then just tug it to the side. And then you can see now this edge is parallel with this edge. Then you can make those new creases. And now we're going to look inside from the bottom. We need to make the tail. So we'll just take this corner and we're going to valley fold it out. There's no reference for this. It's done to taste. So let's just however big you want the tail to be, will fold it out about that much and close it up. Now you could have a longer or shorter tail if you wanted to. You wanted a longer one. And you could just fold it out a little more. Now we're gonna do a similar step on the tail as the one we did up top with the snouts were just going to grab the tail and then grab the body and pull that tail out just a little bit. That's not completely necessary, but it adds a little bit more shape to it. And this should be able to stand up on its own. I know that one has a couple of strange steps, so I hope you are able to follow along. If you were, take a photo of it and post it down in the project section, and then I'll see you in the next video. 10. Outro: Thank you all so much for watching this course. I hope you had a lot of fun folding everything. Make sure to take some photos of yours and post them down in the project section so I can see what you were able to create. If you're stuck on any steps or you have any questions or suggestions, don't hesitate to reach out. Also, if you can rate and review this course, it would mean a lot to me. And don't forget to click follow so you don't miss out on any of my future origami courses. And if you want to keep folding, look down in the description of this course and there's links to all my other courses on origami that thank you all again and I hope to see you my next course.