Little Robot

A 4¾ in tall robot made of two paper boxes: a cube head with a screen for a face and a body with a little light on the chest. The paper stays white — there’s almost nothing to color.

• Medium
• 2 boxes
• 20 tabs
• 1 Letter sheet

Make it with your phone cameraLesson code: 9383

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
• Ruler — 8–12 in
• Scissors — small
• Glue stick — or PVA glue
• Empty pen — to score the folds
• Glass — phone stand

Steps

Trace

1. Head, face: outline. Two squares, one above the other, and three tabs on the bottom one. Using the screen, mark dots at all the corners, then connect them with a ruler — it's faster and neater.
2. Head, face: folds. Draw the line between the squares and the lines at the tabs as dashed lines: you don't cut along them. Number the tabs 1, 2 and 7 — that's the gluing order.
3. Head, face: screen. The bottom square has a screen with rounded corners — inside it, two eye arcs, a smile, and two circles. The top square has a strip on top of the head.
4. Head, sides: outline. Two squares in a row and five tabs: two on top, two on the bottom and one on the right. Again, dots at the corners — then lines with a ruler.
5. Head, sides: folds. Draw the line between the squares and the lines at the tabs as dashed lines. Numbers: 4 and 5 on top, 3 on the right, 8 and 9 on the bottom.
6. Head, walls: ear cup. On the left square, trace the circle — that’s the ear cup, and you’ll color it orange.
7. Head, bottom: outline. Two squares, one above the other, and one tab on top.
8. Head, bottom: folds. Make the line between the squares and the line at the tab dashed. Write the number 6 on the tab.
9. Head, bottom: ear cup. On the top square, under tab 6, trace the circle — the second ear cup.
10. Body: outline. Cross shape: a strip of four sides, with a lid above the left one, a bottom below it, and seven tabs. Dots at the corners, then lines with a ruler.
11. Body: folds. Draw the folds as dashed lines and number the tabs 1 through 7.
12. Body: drawing. The left wall has a light: a circle with a ring around it. Below it, a band runs across all four walls. Under the band, on the first and third walls, there is a narrow gap between the legs.
13. Small parts: outlines. Trace five pieces: two slanted strips with a rounded end — the arms; two with a circle — the antennas; and the feet.
14. Small parts: folds. Each arm and antenna has one dash-dot line: it separates the tab and is a valley fold (fold toward you).
15. Small parts: drawing. On the arms, mark the palm at the rounded end and a band. On the antennas, mark the circle inside. On the feet, mark the toes.

Color

16. Color: face. Start with turquoise for the eye arcs, smile and circles. Then use black: the thin tip around them, the wide tip for the rest of the screen. Color the strip orange. Don’t color the tabs.
17. Orange: headphones. Color the areas that match this color. Move the marker in one direction — you’ll get fewer streaks.
18. Color: body. Color the chest light turquoise, the ring and band orange, and the gaps between the legs black.
19. Color: small parts. Color the arm bands, antenna circles and toes of the feet orange, and the palms black.

Cut

20. Cut out: head, face. Cut out the piece together with the tabs. Cut up to the tab corners from both sides.
21. Cut out: head, sides. Cut out the strip of two squares together with its five tabs.
22. Cut out: head, bottom. Cut out the two squares together with the tab.
23. Cut out: body. Cut with scissors along the solid line. Turn the sheet, not the scissors — the cut will come out neater.
24. Cut out: small pieces — 5 pcs. Cut out the five pieces. Cut the strips in straight lines; for the antenna circles and the toes of the feet, turn the sheet as you cut.

Head

25. Fold the head pieces. Score all the dashed lines with an empty pen along a ruler. Then fold each line away from you, drawing side out — tabs too.
26. Three sides. Take the piece with the screen and the wall strip. Apply glue to tab 1, to the right of the screen, and glue the edge of the wall with the orange circle to it from the inside: the corners should line up.
27. Fourth side. Apply glue to tabs 2 and 3 and place the third piece against them: the wall with the circle closes the head on the left, tab 6 is at the top, and the bottom hangs down.
28. Lid. Fold tabs 4, 5 and 6 inward and apply glue. Lower the lid onto them and press from the inside with your finger — through the open bottom.
29. Bottom. Flip the head so the lid is down. Fold tabs 7, 8 and 9 inward, apply glue, close the bottom and press with your palm for 10 seconds.

Body

30. Fold the cross-shaped piece. Set the head aside. On the body, score and fold all the lines and the seven tabs away from you, the same way.
31. Sides. Roll the four walls into a tube, drawing side out. Apply glue to tab 1 and glue it to the edge of the wall with the light, from the inside.
32. Lid and bottom. Tabs 2, 3 and 4 — fold in, glue, lid: press them from the inside with the blunt end of a pencil. Flip it over; tabs 5, 6 and 7 — fold in, glue, bottom.

Assemble

33. Feet. The body lies bottom up. Apply glue to the bottom and glue the feet to it, drawing side toward the bottom: the orange toes stick out on the side of the light. Flip the robot onto its feet.
34. Head onto the body. Apply glue to the lid of the body and set the head on it bottom down, centered: the head is wider than the body and sticks out on all sides. The screen faces the same way as the light.
35. Arms. On each arm, fold the tab toward you, apply glue to its back side, and glue it to the side wall of the body, right under the head. The arms point out to the sides and down, drawing side forward.
36. Antennas. Fold the antenna tabs toward you and glue them to the top of the head, on both sides of the orange strip. The circles face forward and the antennas tilt out to the sides.

Done. The robot is done. Let the glue dry for 10 min, then put it on a shelf.

Make it with your phone camera

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