Easy Origami Butterfly {Paper Craft}

I love butterflies! They are such beautiful creatures and I could watch them for hours as they float around my garden.

In today’s blog post tutorial, we will show you how you can create your own with just a few origami paper folds. Paper crafts are so much fun, and your kids will love making their own paper butterfly with a dimension of realism they’ll love.

Once folded, it can be used in all kinds of ways, as wall art, a bookmark, or as decorations. For example, you could hang the butterflies from the ceiling in a child’s room. Or encourage your child to start origami scrapbooks with all their creations.

We have a range of other origami tutorial blog posts, including, a One-of-a-kind Origami Crown {Craft Tutorial}, Make a Simple Origami Gift Bag, and How To Make An Origami Cat: A Step-by-Step Guide.

Two folded origami butterflies made with step-by-step instructions from Skip to My Lou. — A beautiful origami butterfly.

Why Origami Crafts are Excellent for Younger Kids

Not only is origami the perfect stress reliever for adults to try, but it benefits children too, teaching them to concentrate on a task, while also helping them with problem-solving, and developing fine motor skills. It teaches patience, too.

Supplies Needed for This Origami Butterfly Tutorial

You will need the following supplies:

A pair of scissors
Nice origami paper (any type of paper will do, however).

Video: How to Fold Simple Paper Butterflies

Traditional Origami Butterfly Instructions: How to Fold a Beautiful Butterfly

Follow these step-by-step instructions to fold your own origami butterfly. Remember to watch the video if you are unsure what folds to make.

Step 1: Start with a square piece of paper.

Two hands holding a blue square piece of paper. — You need a square piece of paper to start.

Step 2: From the top point, fold the paper in half towards the bottom point, making a crease so the top edge and the bottom edges of the paper meet. Now turn the paper 90 degrees and repeat the process to form an X in the middle of the paper.

Two hands folding the blue paper in half. — Fold in half.

Two hands turning the paper 90 degrees. — Turn 90 degrees.

Two hands folding the paper in half again. — Fold in half again.

Step 3: Now turn the paper 45 degrees and fold upward so the bottom edge reaches the top edge to form a triangle.

Two hands turning the paper 45 degrees and folding the bottom edge towards the top edge. — Turn 45 degrees and fold the bottom edge towards the top edge.

Two hands forming a triangle from the folds just made. — You want to form a triangle with this fold.

Step 4: Open the paper out to the original square shape.

Two hands opening the paper out to the original square shape. — Open the paper again.

Step 5: Now fold the paper inwards as shown in the images below. If you are not sure of the correct folds, the video shows this clearly.

Two hands folding the paper inwards. — Start to fold the paper inwards.

Two hands folding the paper inwards into a smaller triangle. — You are aiming for a smaller triangle once the folds are completed.

Step 6: If you’ve done it correctly, you will be left with a small triangle as shown below.

Two hands holding a smaller triangle folded from the square piece of paper. — A small triangle is the result of your folds.

Step 7: Now fold the triangle in half again.

Two hands folding the triangle in half again. — Fold in half again.

Two hands holding the smaller folded triangle. — You should have a smaller triangle once the fold is made.

Step 8: Cut the right flap as shown in the images below.

Two hands cutting the right flap with a pair of scissors. — Time to cut!

Step 9: Open the triangle once and only fold the top section of the right flap upwards. Do the same with the left flap. Do the same with the left flap.

Two hands folding the right flap upwards. — Fold the right flap upwards.

Step 10: Turn the triangle over, and fold the top section backward, towards the longer side of the triangle.

Two hands folding the bottom section of the triangle backwards towards the longer point. — Flip over and fold the top section backward.

Two hands folding the bottom section of the triangle backwards towards the longer point with the point just going over the edge. — The point should just go over the edge.

Step 11: Now fold the top edge back over the underside of the paper.

Step 12: Flip the butterfly over and make a fold along the center line of the wings.

Two hands folding the middle of the butterfly. — Fold along the center line of the wings.

Two hands angling the wings of the butterfly upwards. — Angle the wings upwards!

A finished origami butterfly. — Beautiful!

And there you have your own DIY origami butterfly!

Other Easy Origami Crafts to Try

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