Origami-Instructions.com

Origami Boat

The origami boat is easy to make, and is also a fun action toy. 

Made this origami? Comment and Submit your photo using the comment box at the end of this page!

All over the world, the rainy season will see many kids building boats. 

These actually float! 

They can also be waterproofed to last longer.  Let's start folding.

Begin with a rectangular piece of paper. 

Fold it in half as shown.  Then partially fold it again, making a crease near the top:

ready to make origami boat

origami-boat folded rectangle

origami-boat-creased rectangle

Here you can see the crease in the photo below left.  This helps you line up the corners which you fold down as shown below:

origami-boat-crease mark

Now fold each edge of the paper upwards as shown.  Use your fingers to open up into a hat!  You can stop at the hat, or continue on to the boat.

hat taking shape

looks like origami hat

origami hat!


Bring the corners of the hat brim towards each other.  The edges of the brim will be pushed outwards.  It's kind of like you're "squashing" the hat into a square:

turning the hat into an origami boat

origami-boat-squash folding the hat

hat squashed

Now take one lower corner of the square and fold it upwards.  Flip the piece over and do the same for the other corner. 

You now have a folded triangle.  Open up the folded triangle, bring the corners together...

folding boat

still folding boat

boat and finger

...again, "squash" the triangle into a square (below middle photo). 

Now pull the outer corners of the square, one in each hand. 

Keep pulling to unfold your boat. 

We like to turn the boat over and expand the hole in the bottom.  This will help it balance and float better. 

origami-boat-folded square

boat folded

boat unfolding

still unfolding boat

boat unfolded

Now we just need some water to float our origami boat !

completed origami boat

Here is a video showing the folding of this origami boat.

Check out the many origami boat photos that have been submitted by our readers!

Did you make this origami? If so, upload your photo (2MB limit)via the comment box below. You can login with your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Yahoo accounts.
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