How to make paper snowflakes: fold, cut and unfold

What you need

• Thin paper. Ordinary printer paper (80 gsm, or 20 lb in the US) works. Origami paper, tissue paper and baking paper are easier, because every cut goes through 12 layers.
• Sharp scissors that fit the cutter's hand. Small, sharp scissors make the neatest holes; children need rounded ends and an adult nearby (more on that below).
• A paper clip to hold a template on the folded wedge, and a pencil if you'd rather draw your own design.
• A template (optional, but it takes the guesswork out). Ours print on A4 and US Letter at 100% (actual size). The large one is 10 cm long for a square cut from the sheet; the small one is 7 cm long for 15 cm origami paper.

How to fold a six-point paper snowflake

1. Make a square. Fold the top corner of a sheet of A4 or Letter paper down to the opposite side, so the top edge lies along the side edge. Cut off the strip underneath and unfold. From A4 you get a 21 cm square; from Letter, an 8½ inch square. Origami paper is square already.
2. Fold it into a triangle. Fold the square in half from corner to corner and crease it firmly.
3. Fold it in half again. Fold the triangle in half to make a smaller triangle. The corner where all the folds meet is the centre of your snowflake, so keep track of it.
4. Fold it in thirds. Hold the centre point at the bottom. Fold one side over by a third, then fold the other side behind it, so the edges line up and you have a narrow point. That point is 30 degrees, one twelfth of a full turn. If you're using a template, lay it on top to check the angle.

How to cut and unfold it

1. Trim the top. The open end of the wedge is uneven after folding. Cut straight or slightly curved across it, or clip on a template (red dot on the centre point, both long sides along the folds) and cut off whatever sticks out past it.
2. Cut the inside shapes first. Cut notches, triangles, half-hearts and half-circles from both long edges. A shape cut from a folded edge opens as a whole shape. Leave some of each folded edge uncut, or the snowflake falls apart.
3. Cut the outline last, while the layers are still held together.
4. Unfold slowly. Open one layer at a time so thin arms don't tear, then press the snowflake flat under a heavy book for an hour or so.

Every design on our template pages comes with a picture of the opened snowflake, drawn by mirroring the template at every fold, so you can see what your cuts will make before you start.

Why fold in thirds? Real snowflakes have six points

Many people fold a square into quarters, cut, and get a snowflake with eight points. Real ones never look like that. The Met Office explains that all snowflakes have six sides or points because the water molecules in ice join in a hexagonal structure. Caltech physicist Kenneth Libbrecht, who has studied snow crystals for decades, describes how a tiny ice crystal first grows into a hexagonal prism and then sprouts branches from its six corners. In his words, eight-sided snowflakes turn up on wrapping paper and ski sweaters but are never found in nature.

NOAA adds why the arms match: each one grows in the same air as it falls, so changes in temperature and humidity shape all six alike. Folding paper in thirds copies that. Each fold is a mirror line, and the 30 degree wedge is one twelfth of the circle, so one cut becomes 12 matching cuts.

Easy to hard: which snowflake to try first

Our 14 paper snowflake templates come in three levels. Each has its own three-page PDF: the folding steps, the cutting template in two sizes, and the opened snowflake.

• Easy (big, simple shapes for children from about five, with help): Classic Star, Heart, Flower, Diamond and Twelve-Point Star.
• Medium (narrower arms and branches for confident cutters from about seven): Fern, Arrow, Lace Ring, Crystal Plate and Starburst.
• Hard (fine branches and lace for older children, teens and adults): Frost Crystal, Lacy Doily, Feather and Ice Star.

Made from a 21 cm square with the large template, a snowflake is up to 20 cm across (about 7½ inches from Letter paper). Origami paper with the small template makes one about 14 cm across. To print a class set in one go, use all 14 designs in one PDF.

Making paper snowflakes with kids, by age

Cutting through 12 layers takes more hand strength than cutting one sheet, so match the job to the child. Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust's occupational therapy advice says children may manage small scissors by three to four, but scissor skills are not fully developed until about six. It recommends scissors with rounded ends, short blades and supervision, and left-handed scissors for left-handed children.

• Under five. An adult folds and cuts the outline; the child snips notches into the folded edges. Use thin origami paper so the layers are easy to get through. Any snips make a snowflake.
• Five to seven. Try an easy design. The adult folds, the child clips on the template and cuts the big grey shapes.
• Seven to ten. Children can do the whole thing with a medium design, including the thirds fold, with a little help lining it up.
• Ten and up. The hard designs reward slow, careful cutting. Adults can join in too.

Set a few rules before the scissors come out. The paediatric occupational therapists at Central Coast Local Health District in New South Wales suggest saying what scissors are for, no walking or running with scissors, and passing them closed, handles first.

Paper snowflakes in the classroom

A class snowflake session runs smoothly with a little preparation. Cut the squares beforehand, or pre-fold them for younger classes, and print the small template on origami paper if hands are small. Fold one in front of the class, step by step, before anyone starts.

Snowflakes are also a hands-on way into symmetry. The national curriculum in England asks Year 4 pupils to identify lines of symmetry in 2-D shapes and complete symmetric figures. Try a prediction: before unfolding, ask "if I cut one hole in the middle of the wedge, how many holes will the snowflake have?" (12). A half-shape cut on one folded edge opens as six whole shapes. Children can then draw the mirror lines on their opened snowflake.

Finished snowflakes look good on windows with removable tape, strung on thread as a garland, or glued to dark card. In New Zealand and Australia, December is summer, but snowflakes are still a favourite Christmas decoration, and the same lesson works in a midwinter week in July. For a quieter follow-up, the snowflake mandala colouring page has the same six-fold pattern to colour.

Troubleshooting: why didn’t my snowflake work?

• It fell into pieces. A cut went right across a folded edge. Leave part of each fold uncut, especially near the centre point.
• It has eight points, or four. The square was folded into quarters instead of thirds. Go back to step 4.
• The points are uneven. The thirds fold slipped. Line up the edges before creasing, and check the wedge against the template.
• The scissors won't go through. The paper is too thick. Switch to printer paper or origami paper and the small template.
• It's mostly paper and hardly any holes. The cuts were too small. Cut deeper, and cut away more of the wedge than feels right.
• It won't lie flat. Press it under a book overnight. An adult can iron it on a low heat between two sheets of paper.