Tutorial: How to Make Paper Snowflakes

Making paper snowflakes is a fun winter activity that's easy to do at home! All you need is a piece of printer paper and a pair of scissors.

 1. Start with a piece of paper placed flat in front of you. Thin paper such as printer paper is best for this activity - anything thicker will be hard to fold and cut.

2. Fold one corner of the paper up so that it's flush with the edge of the page. Use your finger to crease the paper along the fold.

3. Using your scissors, cut off the rectangle of excess paper formed by the fold you made. Discard the extra rectangle.

 

4. Fold the triangle of paper in half to create a smaller triangle. Use your finger to crease the paper along the fold.

 

5. Now we're going to fold the triangle into thirds. This part is a bit tricky, but don't despair! Fold one side of the triangle toward the other side and stop when you get about halfway across the top. Crease the paper along the fold. 

 

 6. Now fold the other side of the triangle over the fold you just made. You'll end up with a shape that looks a bit like an ice cream cone.

7. We're ready to start cutting our snowflake. Start by cutting off the top of the triangle. The shapes we make here will form the outside edge of our snowflake. Spiky triangles and rounded curves will both look good. Try out different shapes and see what results you get! 

8. Now we'll cut the interior of the snowflake. Cut out shapes from both sides of your triangle. There are no right or wrong shapes, so have fun and experiment! Just be sure not to cut all the way across your triangle, or you'll lop off the top of your snowflake. 

9. When you're finished cutting out your shapes, gently unfold your snowflake and flatten out the creases.

10. And your work is done! Hang your snowflakes in the window or on a tree, or turn them into a wintry garland to decorate your home.