How to Make a Pencil Box

A long rectangular origami box sized to hold pencils, pens, or other long items.

Intermediate10 min14 stepsJapan

Quick answer

To make a pencil box, you need paper, scissors and about 10 minutes. Start by start with a4 paper in landscape orientation. This activity has 14 steps and is rated intermediate. Clean activity — no mess!

What you need

paperscissors

✨ Clean activity — no mess

Step-by-Step Instructions

1
Start with A4 paper in landscape orientation.
2
Fold in half lengthwise (bottom to top). Crease and unfold.
3
Fold the top and bottom edges to the center crease.
4
Fold in half widthwise (right to left). Crease and unfold.
5
Fold the left and right edges to the center vertical crease.
6
Unfold the left and right folds. You now have a grid of creases.
7
Unfold the top and bottom folds as well. The paper should show a grid.
8
At each corner, fold the corner diagonally so it meets the first crease line from that edge. These diagonal folds will become the box corners.
9
Re-fold the top and bottom edges to the center.
10
At the short ends, lift the edges upward to form the short walls of the box, using the diagonal corner folds to create neat 90-degree corners.
11
Fold the short-end flaps over the top of the walls and down into the box interior to lock the walls in position.
12
Repeat on the other short end.
13
The long sides should already be folded up as walls from the earlier folds. Adjust them to be perpendicular to the base.
14
Your pencil box is complete: a long, narrow box with four walls. It can hold pencils, pens, and other long items on your desk.