Easy Origami Basketball Paper Toy
Know someone that LOVES basketball? Looking for a fun and easy basketball craft to make with them? Check out our easy Origami Basketball Toy – the perfect paper toy to make quickly and easily. These would be great for March Madness or for anyone hosting a Basketball Party! See all our Basketball Crafts here. We love easy origami for kids!
Easy Origami Basketball Toy
Paper Basketball Craft for March Madness – Materials
- White paper (one A4 sheet cut down into 2 15 x 15 cm squares – we like using scrap paper to be honest!)
- Orange paper for the basketball (though you can make a pom pom as well – info below)
- Pen & Ruler
- Scissors
- Stick tape
- String or baker’s twine to attach the basketball to the hoop
Printable instructions available for $2 here – perfect for use in a classroom environment!
How to make an Origami Basketball Toy – a great Basketball Party Craft
You can watch the Basketball Toy Video tutorial here or scroll down for the step-by-step instructions!
You may also enjoy our Frankenstein Paper Cup game on YouTube.
Making an Origami Paper Cup Step By Step Tutorial
Fold your square piece of paper along the diagonal to make a triangle.
Neaten the creases and rotate so the long edge runs along the bottom.
Take the far right corner and bring it over to touch the side on the left. As you fold, it should create a PARALLEL line with the bottom edge.
Neaten down the folds!
Repeat with the left side – again make sure you have a pararrel line.
Neaten down the folds.
Take on of the top flaps and fold down.
Flip over the origami and fold down the bag side. Make a neat crease.
Fold it back up and then turn inside the paper cup.
Finished! Your easy origami paper cup is finished!
Decorating your paper origami cup into a Basketball Hoop
Now turn your simple paper cup into Basketball Hoop.
Give the hoop a little orange outline at the top.
Using a black pen and a ruler, draw the basketball hoop stripes. Draw them first one way, flip the basketball hoop over and draw your lines the other way!
NOTE: our stripes are PARALLEL to the edges of your paper cup. This makes it much easier to create neat lines!
To make it “3d”, pop two fingers inside the cup, with the other hand squeeze down the bottom of the cup to shape.
To make your simple paper basketball
Take some string, tie a knot one end and tape to the centre of a piece of scrap orange paper.
Wrap the paper around it and scrunch it into a ball.
Add some tape to the other end of the string (knot this first and place the tape just above the knot to help secure it in place).
Tape to the inside of origami paper cup.
You can now play with your Paper Cup and Ball Game! Good luck!
Oh! And don’t forget to add a cute kawaii face to give your little basketball craft some extra character!!! Have fun with positioning the face!
Making a pom pom basketball
You can watch the pom pom video tutorial here:
You can of course also make a pom pom basketball! This is done super quickly with the 2 finger pom pom making technique! If you are looking for more pom pom making techniques to check out our further resources.
Place some THIN baker’s twine between your index and middle finger. We used thin bakers twine here, as it is strong but also the thinness will allow you to tie the pom pom better.
Start wrapping yarn around you two fingers (only two fingers, if you use three or four fingers, you will get a much bigger pom pom).
When you feel you have enough yarn (it is a guess, see my images for guidance), pull the baker’s twine up and into place. See images.
Carefully knot – slide off your fingers and make sure the knot is super tight – but also centred in the middle.
Cut open the loops using a sharp pair of scissors. Your pom pom will look oblong and messy.
You will need to trim your pom pom!
Done! Save the scraps for toy stuffing.
Now you have two ball and cup games for March Madness! Such a fun and easy paper basketball toy to make!
See all our basketball crafts here:
Similarly, we have lots more wonderful Easy Origami For Kids here:
