How to Make an Origami Turtle

Here is an step-by-step tutorial on how to fold an origami turtle that is easy to follow and make adorable paper turtles!

Origami Turtle

Origami is a great way to keep kids busy while they learn important skills such as mental concentration, sequencing, visual-spatial skills, and much more. Plus, you can do them anywhere, including on car rides and at an airport. All you need is a piece of paper!

If your kids are starting out with paper folding, the origami turtle or tortoise is an easy one to start with. There are no complicated folds, so your kids can make a cute paper turtle by following the steps closely.

These origami turtles are cool because they are 3D, with an elevated shell just like a real turtle. Your kids can make a handful of them to create a turtle family that they can use for pretend play.

How to Make an Origami Turtle

Materials:

Instructions:

1. Start with a square piece of paper (we used green for our origami turtle). If you only have rectangular paper at home, you can check out the beginning steps of this paper bow craft to see how you can trim it to a square.

Fold the square paper in half vertically and then unfold it. This will form a crease along the center of the paper.

Origami Turtle Step 1

2. Hold the top right corner of the paper and fold it inward toward the center crease. Similarly, fold the top left corner of the paper.

Origami Turtle Step 2

3. Flip the paper over.

Origami Turtle Step 3

4. Fold the top right and left slants down along the center crease.

Origami Turtle Step 4

5. Open up the top right and left folds in the back.

Origami Turtle Step 5

6. Fold the right and left lower parts up along the center line.

Origami Turtle Step 6

7. Fold the top portion of the left and right bottom flaps downward.

Origami Turtle Step 7

8. Fold the top corner of the diamond down the middle so that it is aligned with the bottom corner.

Origami Turtle Step 8

9. Fold about 3/4 of the top part up.

Origami Turtle Step 9

10. Hold the left edge of the top part and start pushing the middle of the edge inward.

Origami Turtle Step 10

11. Continue until you can create a flatten the fold.

Origami Turtle Step 11

12. Repeat the same on the other side.

Origami Turtle Step 12

13. Flip the paper over. It almost looks like a turtle! Now, we need to make its shell and tail.

Hold the tail part of the paper turtle and fold it slightly along the crease. Squeeze the fold tightly, and you should now have an arch, giving the back of the turtle a more turtle shell feel.

Origami Turtle Step 13

14. Fold the paper over to either side of the crease.

Origami Turtle Step 14

15. Flip the paper over and tuck the tip of the tail inside the shell. Glue the tip if necessary.

Fold the front legs of the turtle inward and then fold about 3/4 of the arms outward. Then, fold the hind legs along the edges of the turtle shell.

Origami Turtle Step 15

16. Flip the paper back over. The 3D origami turtle is ready!

Origami Turtle Step 16

The thing with origami is that once you make one, you will want to practice and make another. Good thing you can get a pack of origami paper at a fairly cheap price so that your kids can have fun folding paper turtles all day!

Origami Turtles

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