The Froebel star is a three-dimensional star made of four strips of paper.

The Four Strips   top

1	Cut out four strips of paper in size 1: 25 or better 1:30.

2	Fold the strips in the middle and cut the ends diagonally.

The First 2x2 Square top

3	Hold the first strip horizontally and hang the second strip over it.

4	Wrap the third strip round the second.

5	Wrap the fourth strip around the third and stick the ends of the fourth strip into the loop of the first strip.

6	Pull the ends of the four strips until a square of four squares appears.

The Second 2x2 Square top

7	Fold the top left strip downwards.

8	Fold the left strip to the right and put it upon the one just folded.

9	Fold the right strip upwards.

10	Fold the top left strip to the right and stick its end into the loop of the strip first folded (see 7).

11	Pull the end to the right.

The Eight Points   top

12	Fold the left strip with a turn through 90 degrees to the left.  Make sure that you have to fold down to the left.

13	Fold the same strip up with a turn through 90 degrees.

14	Put the strip upon the both left squares. The first point of the star is nearly ready.

15	Bend down the point since it is vertical to the four squares.

16	Stick the free end of the strip, which belongs to the point, under the small square on the bottom left.

17	Pull the free end of the strip up in one go.

18	Turn the unfinished star through 90 degrees clockwise. The strip for the next point is waiting at the same place as before.

19	Fold the second point. Turn through 90 degrees clockwise again and make the third point. Turn and make the fourth point in the same way.

20	Turn around the unfinished star. The reverse side is in front now.

21	Fold the last four points in the same way as before.

The Eight Bags    top

22	Fold the four free ends of the strips in the opposite directions. The strips must come out in the middle and must hang free.

23	Fold the strip down left to the left. Turn the strip through 90 degrees.

24	Put the strip upright, so that it is vertical to the squares. Stick its end under the neighbouring strip. Make sure that the side of the strip, which points to the top, is also on top if you stick it in.

25	Push the free end of the strip further. It appears at the point down on the right between the two triangles, which form the point. Pull the free end of the strip and form a bag with your fingers.

26	Make the remaining seven bags in the same way. Cut off the ends of the strips at the points.

27

The star is finished :-).

Variants of the Froebel Star top 1. You can stop after step 21 and leave out the bags.  2. You can fold the star as small as possible. 3. You can leave step 23. Then you don't get pointed bags but more bows.  4. You can use different materials like paper, silk, aluminium foil or plastics. 5. The strips can have different colours, also on both sides. You can colour the strips or the finished star.  6. You can dip the star in fluid wax and/or cover it with glitter. You can fix the glitter with hair setting lotion.  7. In the shop of the Kreuzkirche at Dresden I saw, that the stars can have a tail. Don't cut two strips.  8. Don't cut the strip ends and connect stars with them to get pairs or star rosettes.  9. You can form mobiles with stars.  I like the simple one-colour-star best.  Froebel Star on the Internet     top Deutsch Fröbelschule Kiel Der Fröbelstern Hildegard Geisler / Ralph Sontag Empfehlung und Bastelanleitung Markus Götz Die wahrscheinlich kleinsten Papiersterne der Welt Sabine Viertel (treffpunkt-ostsee.de) Weihnachtsstern - Fröbelstern basteln Ursula Meiß (Ursulas Kreativ-Insel) Anleitung Fröbelstern Englisch craftideas How to Make a German Paper Star  Laurie Folded Stars Maddy and Maverick 3-D Stars - Free Instructions Matt and Elaine Vardjan Pennsylvania German Folk Art Papers Nagledesign How to make stars Origamisan Ribbon Folding, Fish  (In Germany known as Fröbelfisch) References   (German) top (1) Walter Diem: Sterne, Sterne, Weihnachtssterne, Augsburg 1995 (2) BURDA, Weihnachtsbasteln, E466, Offenburg 1979 (3) Kunihiko Kasahara, Origami ohne Grenzen, München 2001 (ISBN 3-8043-0687-X) Comments     top - In Germany the star is called Fröbelstern. In the English-speaking world there is no common name. I found German Star, Swedish Star, Polish Star, Danish Star, Pennsylvanian Star, Advent Star, Moravian Star, and (!) Froebel Star.  - Friedrich Fröbel (1782-1852) was one of the founders of the kindergarten movement. He used for instance children's play instinct for plaiting and folding works to give them an understanding of mathematics. So the name of the star is appropriate.  I found out that the name Fröbelstern first arose in the 1960s. But I am not sure. - I know the star by the "Bodelschwinghschen Anstalten" at Bethel near Bielefeld. They sent three or four stars to those as a Christmas present, who collected used stamps for them during the year. (The "Bodelschwinghschen Anstalten" is a home of mentally disturbed people. They still collect stamps. Support them.) - Today the star has a large circulation in Germany, but not many people can fold it. You can buy it in shops for 1.5 Euro to decorate your Christmas tree.  - You make the strips best with a cutting tool or you take ribbons used in gift-wrapping. Feedback: Email address on my main page This page is also available in German. URL of my Homepage: http://www.mathematische-basteleien.de/ ©  1999 Jürgen Köller top