A traditional crow: a kite folded in half with the beak reversed inside. Tap its tail and it hops forward.
Why this level: Mostly a kite fold and folding in half; only the one inside reverse fold for the beak needs a little care.
You need: 1 sheet of origami paper
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The hopping crow is a traditional Japanese fold made from the kite shape; nobody knows who first folded it. A very similar simple crow, folded in half with its head turned down, is drawn in a Japanese children’s magazine from 1927, and folding diagrams for it appeared in a Japanese origami book in 1931. We cannot be sure it is exactly the same model as this hopping crow.
Did you know? The 1931 book also shows a pigeon made with almost the same folds, right next to the crow.
White side up as a diamond. Fold the left corner to the right corner and unfold.
Fold the left and right corners in on lines from the top corner, so the two upper edges lie on the centre crease. You get a kite with a long point at the top.
Fold the top point down to the bottom edge of the coloured flaps (where the white part starts), crease firmly and unfold. The crease is exactly half way.
Fold the right half over onto the left along the centre crease. The coloured flaps go inside.
Rotate the paper 45° to the left so its short edge lies flat at the bottom. The long point now aims up to the left.
From where the step-3 crease meets the folded edge, push the long point down between the two layers on a slanted line (inside reverse fold). The beak now points down.
Stand it on the tip of its beak and the bottom corner of its body. Your hopping crow is done — tap its tail!