Here’s an easy Origami Fish Craft that’s perfect for beginners, even kids! So get your plain or patterned Origami paper and let’s fold!

When was the first time you heard about Origami? I heard it during my teen years, and I initially thought it was this complex, intricate Japanese art form that was practiced by experts with years of training.

Little did I know that I had already experienced Origami – when I made my first cootie catcher in school!

In Japanese, ‘Oru‘ means to fold, and ‘Kami’ means paper; so Origami is simply the art of paper folding. It’s something we’ve all done, even though we didn’t realize it at the time!

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Most Popular Origami Shapes

Fortune Tellers or Cootie Catchers
Paper Boats
Hats
Cranes
Swans
Lotuses
Jumping Frogs
Hearts

Well, today we’re going to do something that’s not in this list, but is still easy enough for beginners – an Origami fish craft! We’ve given you step-by-step instructions with pictures, so this will be a breeze to make!

Easy Origami Fish Craft for Kids

Supplies required:

Colored craft papers
Pencil
A pair of scissors
Craft glue
Googly eyes

How to make the Origami Fish Craft:

1. Let’s start by getting the paper ready for our Origami fish craft. You need a square of side 4″ – it can be in any color you like.

2. Fold the paper in half, vertically and horizontally; and then unfold so you get two lines running across opposite ends.

3. Turn the paper to the other side.

4. Now, fold the square diagonally twice and unfold, so you now have two diagonal lines criss-crossing through the center.

5. Push the vertical and horizontal folds inwards and make mountain folds along the diagonal creases.

6. Flatten the paper along the creases so you end up with a square base. This square has 2 adjacent open sides and 2 adjacent closed sides, as well as a crease running down the middle. Place it on a flat surface with the corner of the closed sides towards the top.

7. Fold in the right closed side to meet the central crease.

8. Fold in the left closed side to meet the central crease.

9. Turn the pattern over and repeat Steps 7 and 8 on this side.

10. We’re now going to create the fins of the Origami fish craft. Open the left flap of the current pattern.

11. Open, or fold-back, the top open corner.

12. Bring it down to the opposite side, far enough so it lays flat.

13. Flatten the fold neatly.

14. Repeat steps 10-13 on the right side. Now both fins of the Origami fish craft are ready.

15. Cut out a small square from the same paper you’ve used so far. This is for the tail fin, so size it accordingly. Fold the square in half to form a triangle.

16. Attach the triangle paper to the pointy end at the back of the fish.

17. Stick a googly eye to the head to complete your Origami fish craft.

There you go – your Origami fish craft is done! If you like, you can also take a Sharpie or marker and draw a cute smile on your fish.

Doesn’t this Origami fish remind you of Dr. Seuss’ book ‘One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish‘? We think this craft would be an excellent accompaniment to reading the book, especially since Dr. Seuss birthday is coming up on 2nd March! Make multiples in different colors so kids can practice their colors and numbers in one go!

If you’d like to check out more easy Origami crafts based on ocean creatures, here you go: