Bats

A flock of bats on the wall, made from black paper: twelve bats in three sizes — 4¾, 3½ and 2⅜ in wingspan — from a single Letter sheet; a second sheet doubles the flock. The wings fold away from the wall, which adds shadow and depth. The bats are held on with double-sided tape, and the eyes and fangs are drawn with a white pen.

• Easy
• 12 bats in the flock
• 3 sizes of one silhouette
• 2 folds on each one
• 1 Letter sheet

Make it with your phone cameraLesson code: 5193

On VanGami the template appears over your sheet through your phone camera — no printer needed. Trace it, cut, fold and glue. Below are all the steps in text.

What you’ll need

• Letter sheet — office paper, 80 gsm (20 lb)
• Markers
• Pencil — and eraser
• Scissors — small
• Tape — double-sided; regular tape rolled into a loop also works
• Regular markers
• Nail scissors — for the small bats, optional
• Second sheet — twelve more bats traced from a stencil, optional
• Glass — phone stand

Steps

Trace

1. Big bats: outline. Trace the two big bats — you’ll cut along this line. This side of the sheet will face the wall, so nobody will see the lines.
2. Big bats: folds. Along the sides of the body — two dashed lines, from the corner behind the ear to the nearest wing point. The wings fold along them; don’t cut these lines.
3. Medium bats: outline. The four smaller bats — same way, with a solid line. You can round the wing points off a little.
4. Medium bats: folds. Each one has two dashed lines along the sides of the body.
5. Small bats: outline. Six small bats. The ears and points here are tiny — draw the line without pressing hard; millimeter accuracy isn’t needed.
6. Small bats: folds. Same here — two dashed lines on each one.

Color

7. Black. The paper is white, but these parts should be this color on both sides: color them up to the outline, then turn the sheet over and color the back.

Cut

8. Cut out: big bats — 2 pcs. First cut the bat off the sheet with some margin, then guide the scissors along the line. Get into the corners between the points with the tips of the scissors, from both sides.
9. Cut out: medium bats — 4 pcs. Cut out the four medium bats along the line. Turn the paper, not the scissors.
10. Cut out: small bats — 6 pcs. Small bats are easier to cut with nail scissors. Cut the corners between the points with two cuts that meet.
11. Optional: another flock. Twelve bats is a small flock. If you want more, while the bats are still flat, trace them onto the second sheet as a stencil, color them black on both sides and cut out more.

Eyes

12. Eyes and fangs. Turn the bats over, clean side up. With the white pen, give each one two dot eyes just below the ears and two fangs under them.

Fold

13. Fold the wings. Turn the bat over, lines side up, and fold both wings away from you along the dashed line. Press the folds with your fingernail and let go: the bat will stand on its wingtips like a little table.
14. Eleven more. Fold the wings the same way on the rest of the bats — repeat 11 more times. The folds on the small ones are short: press them down with your fingernail.

On the wall

15. Tape on the body. Take a bat in your hand and stick a small piece of double-sided tape on its body between the folds, on the side with the lines; don’t remove the protective film yet. No double-sided tape? Roll a piece of regular tape into a loop, sticky side out.
16. Small ones — by the corner. Peel the film off the tape (a loop has none) and press the body to the wall. Put the six small bats in a cluster by the corner, no farther than 4¾ in from it, heads pointing away from the corner: the flock flies out from here.
17. Medium ones — farther out. Place the four medium bats farther out and higher up, 4¾–8½ in from the corner: the flock fans out. Leave ¾–2 in between neighbors and turn each one a little differently.
18. Big ones — at the edge. Place the two big bats farthest of all, 12–14 in from the corner. They look closer, so the flock seems to fly straight into the room.

Check

19. Spread the wings. Go over the flock: press each body down once more and bend the wings away from the wall about halfway — each bat will cast a shadow.

Done. The flock is on the wall. In the evening, turn on a lamp from the side — the wing shadows will get long.

Make it with your phone camera

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