Paper snowflake maker
Pick the arm tips and decorations, watch your six-armed snowflake appear, then see exactly how to cut it from folded paper.
Your snowflake
MediumForked tips
✂️ 5 snips with the scissors
❄️ 19 holes in the snowflake
✂️ How to cut it
Fold your paper into a narrow wedge first, then hold it with the point down, like the picture. Cut away the striped parts.
Fold first
- Fold a square of paper in half, corner to corner, to make a triangle.
- Fold the triangle into three equal parts, like a fan closing over itself.
- Fold in half once more. You now have a narrow wedge, 12 layers thick.
- 1Cut a small V into the top of the right fold, then one long slanted snip down to the left fold.
- 2Snip the point off at a slant.
- 3Cut 2 small triangles into the right fold. Each one opens into a diamond.
- 4Cut 1 half-circle into the left fold. It opens into a round hole.
- Unfold slowly and press it flat under a heavy book.
Twelve layers are thick. A grown-up can help with the small cuts.
The sheet has the fold lines and every cut printed on it, so there is nothing to copy by hand.
How to use this tool
- 1Choose the arm tips, the decorations along and between the arms, and the centre, or press Surprise me.
- 2Fold a square of paper into a narrow wedge and copy the numbered cuts from the picture, or print the cutting sheet.
- 3Cut away the striped parts, unfold slowly, and count the holes before you check the number on screen.
What you can learn
- A snowflake has six lines of symmetry, so one folded slice holds the whole design.
- A snip on a folded edge appears six times when the paper opens, which is why a few cuts make so many holes.
- Real snowflakes have six arms because water molecules freeze into six-sided rings.
Want the why behind it?
Fold a six-armed snowflake step by step →Keep exploring
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