★★☆☆☆ Starter folds · 8 steps
Fox Puppet (Mouth Opens and Shuts)
Published · By The Origami Desk
A hand puppet folded from one square, with a jaw that opens when you pinch the back. It is the first model most people meet where the fold sequence exists to create a mechanism rather than a shape.
finished crease pattern
Fold sequence
1 / 8
Step 1
Square 15 cm, coloured side up. Fold one diagonal and unfold, then fold the sheet in half along the other diagonal and leave it folded as a triangle.
How the jaw works
The jaw is a long inside reverse fold running most of the way down the body. When you pinch the back of the head the paper hinges at that fold and the mouth opens by about 40 degrees. The pivot must sit 4.5 cm back from the nose tip; move it forward and the mouth barely opens, move it back and the head flops.
Ears that stay up
The two ears are reverse folded at 40 degrees from the vertical, so they splay outward like a real fox's. Fold them from the tip down, and give each one a small extra crease at its base — a single-crease ear will droop within a minute of being played with.
Paper choice for a puppet
A puppet is folded and unfolded hundreds of times, so the paper matters more than the folds. 80 gsm copier paper survives about 200 open-close cycles before the jaw hinge tears. 100 gsm kraft paper lasts several times longer and is worth the extra stiffness when folding the small ear bases.
Paper specification
| Sheet size | 15 cm |
|---|---|
| Sheet ratio | 1:1 |
| Paper weight | 80 gsm |
| steps | 8 |
| Difficulty | ★★☆☆☆ |
| Base | kite-puppet |
15 cm square at 80 gsm. The model gets handled constantly by small hands, so stiffness beats crispness.
Crease symbol quick reference
| Crease notation used | count | first move |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain fold | 1 | Locate the line on the diagram; confirm the direction by looking at the adjacent valley folds. |
| Valley fold | 3 | Bring the edge or corner exactly to its target point and hold it there. |
| Reverse fold | 2 | Open the point along its existing crease, all the way to the base. |
| Inside reverse fold | 2 | Open the point along its existing crease until it lies flat in the opposite direction. |
What goes wrong
The mouth will not open
The hinge in step 6 is too far forward. Unfold it and move the pivot back toward the body.
The hinge tears after a week
80 gsm paper has a short life at that fold. Refold from 100 gsm kraft.
Making it hold
- Test the jaw before creasing the hinge hard; the pivot height is easy to overshoot.
- Give each ear a second crease at its base or it will droop.
- Pinch the back of the head, not the neck, to open the mouth.