How to Make a Paper Bat (Easy Origami for Halloween)

Lay a square of origami paper colored-side down. Fold it in half diagonally, corner to corner, so you have a large triangle. Press the crease flat with your finger or a bone folder, then unfold.

You should now have a flat square with one diagonal crease running through the middle. That crease becomes the centerline of the bat's body, so make it firm.

Fold the paper diagonally the other way, corner to corner, then unfold. The two creases should cross in the exact middle of the square, forming an X.

Both creases should go all the way to the corners. These four lines do all the structural work for the next collapse, so a sloppy crease here makes the bat lopsided later.

Flip the paper colored-side up and fold it in half horizontally and vertically, then unfold. You'll have a star pattern of creases.

Now bring the two side corners in to meet at the bottom while the top folds down on itself. The paper collapses naturally along the existing creases into a smaller triangle with the open edge at the bottom. Press it flat.

With the triangle's point facing up, fold the two outer corners down to meet the bottom edge. You now have a flatter diamond shape.

Tuck the side points inward along the existing creases so the whole figure flattens into a long, narrow horizontal band with a single peaked ridge through the middle. This becomes the bat's body line.

Pick up the band by the center ridge. Lift the left and right sides up so they stand perpendicular to the body, then fold them in toward the middle to create a small kite shape that points up.

The two upward-pointing triangles will become the wings. The narrow vertical line down the middle is the body. Don't worry about a clean look yet - the accordion folds in step 7 will reshape everything.

Open up the two wing flaps and pull them outward and down so they stick out from the body to the left and right. You should now see a recognizable bat silhouette: a small central body with two triangular wings extending out to the sides.

Press the new creases firmly where each wing meets the body. The wings should sit at roughly the same angle - if one is higher than the other, gently adjust.

This is the step that gives the bat its signature scalloped wing shape. Starting from the body, make a small fold up, then a small fold down, then up again, working out toward the wing tip. You're making little zig-zag pleats across the wing.

Repeat on the other wing, trying to match the spacing. Press each crease flat as you go. Three or four pleats per wing is plenty - the wing should look like a tiny paper fan when you're done.

Hold the body in the middle and gently pull the wings apart so they spread to either side. The bottom point pinches into a small triangle - that's the bat's head.

Use a fine black marker to dot two eyes on the head triangle, or stick on two small googly eyes if you have them. Tape a thread to the back of the body to hang it from the ceiling, or stick a strip of double-sided tape on the back to mount it to a window.