Fold the cap one step at a time and pause whenever you like. Ask me about any step: the squash fold, why the corners become 45° triangles, or how the brim halves the band.

Paper Soldier Cap

Fold a classic garrison cap from one square, and watch halves, quarters and 45° triangles build it

Start with a square, front side down. Fold it in half from side to side and open it again: that crease is the cap's line of symmetry. Then fold the top half down. The fold you just made is the top edge of the cap, and the paper is now a rectangle twice as wide as it is tall.

Fold the right strip to the middle, then the left one, both layers at once. Each strip is a quarter of the width, so the paper becomes a small square. Now comes the clever step: open each top corner and squash it flat. The back layer swings back out, and the corner turns into a triangle with a right angle at the top and two 45° angles, half of a square cut along its diagonal. The paper looks like a little house.

Fold the two sides behind, along the triangles, and you have a square again, its top half showing the front side and its bottom half the back side. The brim is pure halving: fold the bottom edge up to the part where the front side shows, fold it up once more, then fold the whole band over. Each fold halves the band (1/8, then 1/16 of the side). Turn the cap over, make the same brim, and open it.

Use the step player to pause on any fold, turn the model to look from the side, and ask the AI tutor why the squashed corner is a 45° triangle or why the strips meet exactly in the middle.

Related Topics

Dart Paper AirplanePythagorean TheoremCongruence & Similarity
How do you make a paper soldier cap?
Start with a square, front side down. Fold it in half side to side and unfold, fold the top half down, fold both side strips to the middle, squash each top corner into a triangle, fold the sides behind, then fold up a brim on the front and on the back. Open it and put it on.
What is a squash fold?
A squash fold opens a flap and flattens it into a new shape. On this cap, each top corner is opened and pressed flat: the back layer swings back out and the corner becomes a right-angled triangle. The 3D animation shows the flap lifting and flattening, which is hard to see in a drawing.
What math is in a paper cap?
Halving (the strips are quarters of the width, the brim folds are 1/8 and 1/16 of the side), symmetry about the middle crease, and 45° angles in the squashed triangles, which are halves of a square. The flat folded cap is a square again: two halves of the original width.
What size paper makes a cap a child can wear?
The opening of the cap is about as long as the side of the square, so for a child's head use a square of about 55 cm (cut from newspaper or wrapping paper). A square cut from A4 or Letter paper makes a small cap for a toy or a doll.
Why fold the brim up three times?
Each fold halves the band and doubles its layers, so the brim is thick and strong where it holds the cap together. That is also why the two sides stay closed when you open the cap.