Besides being a lot of fun, learning how to make an origami wolf is a wonderful lesson in patience and persistence for children and adults alike. There are wolf models available for beginning, intermediate, and advanced paper folders, so it's easy to find something suitable for your own personal skill level.
Easy Origami Wolf Instructions
Once you learn the basic origami techniques, you will want to try your hand at other sculptural interpretations, such as this origami wolf project.
This standing origami wolf model is very easy to fold, which makes it an excellent choice for an adult beginner or a child who is interested in learning more about origami. You will need one sheet of square paper. Larger construction paper or scrapbook paper squares might be easier for a younger child to work with. Folding multiple layers of smaller paper can be difficult for tiny hands.
1. To begin, place the paper on your work surface so it looks like the shape of a diamond. Starting from the bottom, fold away from yourself (or up) so your paper is shaped like a triangle.
2. Fold the right corner of the triangle to meet the left corner. This gives you a triangle shape that is similar to a sailboat's mast.
3. Hold your triangle and lift up one flap and fold it up and away from yourself until the two points meet at the top. Turn your model over and lift the other bottom flap of the triangle up and away from yourself.
4. Rotate your design 45 degrees and fold the ends on both sides to the center. This step forms the front and back legs of your wolf. Go over the creases with your fingernail or the edge of a metal ruler so they are nice and sharp.
5. Holding your model at the back, open up the three pointed flaps at the front. Squash fold the center flap down to form the wolf's head. The other two flaps serve as the pointy ears of your origami wolf. If desired, decorate the finished wolf with colored pencils, markers, or crayons.
Once you've completed the first wolf, you can keep making more using origami paper of differing sizes and colors until you have your very own wolf pack. Depending upon the species, wolves can be black, dark grey, brown, gray, tan, reddish brown, silver, golden brown, red, or white. The eyes of an adult wolf are yellow, but they have a greenish gold shine at night. Wolf pups have blue-grey eyes when they are born.
Intermediate Origami Barking Wolf
This origami barking wolf from Origami Italia uses the kite base form to create a wolf's head model that you can move back and forth so it appears to be barking. This model would be a fun paper toy for a child, since the features could be decorated with colored pencils, markers, or crayons to give the animal a unique personality. However, the steps are intended for an intermediate level adult folder.
Advanced Origami Wolf
If realism is your primary goal, this origami wolf from Vilest Cat has a sculptural appearance. If you hand paint your paper, this is a piece you'll be proud to display.
The tutorial for this advanced level model clocks in at just over 32 minutes, so make sure you have plenty of time to follow along.
Origami Expressions
Origami is a powerful symbol of Japan's cultural heritage. This fascinating art form is practiced globally and transcends language and cultural barriers with its beauty. With a little practice, you too can share in the magic of this relaxing hobby and create lovely origami animals like these wolves.
