How to Make a Paper Dragon to Celebrate the Chinese New Year

Celebrate Chinese New Year with this fun and easy origami tutorial and learn how to make a paper dragon.

On February 10, China celebrates a new year, which this time corresponds to the year of the dragon. As you may know, each Chinese New Year is named after an animal, and this has its origins in an ancient Chinese legend.

According to this legend, the Jade Emperor called a race among the animals to determine the order in which they would be represented in the calendar. The first twelve to reach the imperial palace would be honored with a year to their name. The rat, cunning and quick, persuaded the ox to carry it on his back, but jumped off just before the finish line, thus winning first place. The ox came second, followed by the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the goat, the monkey, the rooster, the dog and, finally, the pig. Each animal, in its designated year, bestows its characteristics on the year and the people born in it. This mythological story not only explains the order of the Chinese zodiac, but also provides a rich basis for the cultural traditions associated with each animal in the Chinese New Year.

More and more cities around the world are celebrating the beginning of the Chinese New Year with the help of the Chinese community in each country. To prepare you for this event, here is a tutorial for you to make a paper animal, an origami dragon.

Materials needed

Red Paper
Scissors or cutter
Glue
Gold glitter
Gold marker pen

Step by step for making your origami dragon

1. Prepare the sheets

The first step is to prepare the sheets to start with the origami. The number of sheets you are going to use will depend on how long you want the dragon to be. To prepare them, cut each one into four. Fold in half, from top to bottom and then from right to left to create the quarters and use the scissors or cutter to make the division.

2. Start bending

The process to make this dragon is simple and repetitive. You just have to fold the red sheets into triangles as follows:

1. Fold the paper in half and vertically (from right to left)
2. With the closed side up, bring the top corners to the center and down.
3. Turn it over and fold the excess paper from the bottom to the top (on both sides).
4. Fold it in half, joining both parts (putting the right side over the left side or vice versa).
5. You should be left with a triangle like a square and like the one shown in the picture.
6. Repeat this process as many times as necessary, depending on the size you want to give to your dragon.

3. Join the triangles together

Once you have all the triangles ready, start joining them together as in the image below.

4. Shape the dragon

To get an idea of how many triangles you have to join, place them on a surface and shape the dragon, so you will know if you have any pieces missing or left over.

5. Join everything together

Once you have all the triangles in order, join them together and add the ones corresponding to the legs.

6. Draw the head

Use a new red sheet to draw and cut out the dragon's head. You can take inspiration from the picture below, or let your imagination run wild and make your own. When it's ready, glue it to the dragon's body and paint this paper animal as you like.

7. Decorate with whatever you like

Finally, here we suggest a decorative design with marker and gold glitter, but you can give your personal touch to your origami dragon by painting it and adding as many details as you like.

Did you like this experience? Origami is a very versatile technique, and you can create endless elements with it. If you want to know more about this Japanese art, take a look at these courses and articles:

- Online Course: Paper Jewelry-Making with Origami Techniques
- The best online papercraft courses
- How to make origami animals