Every child goes through a dinosaur phase, and the one they always come back to is the T. rex. The trouble is that most simple paper dinosaurs end up looking like the same green lump, whichever name you give them. This one does better: the head comes out heavy and blunt, the tail sweeps back for balance, and thanks to a few well-placed corner folds there are even suggestions of those famously useless little arms.

There are 25 steps here, which sounds like a lot, but look closely and you will see that most of them are the same fold repeated on the other side. Put on a large sheet of paper for your first go, press each crease firmly, and do not worry if the result looks a bit soft around the edges. Once the body is folded back in half at step 18, the shape snaps into focus and you will suddenly be looking at a dinosaur rather than a paper fan.

This tutorial shows you how to fold a Tyrannosaurus, the dinosaur everyone thinks of first. There are quite a few steps and it takes a little time, but none of them are difficult. The instructions are written so that anyone can follow them, so give it a try.

How to Fold a Tyrannosaurus

STEP 1. Make a crease along the diagonal.

STEP 2. Fold the left, right and top corners toward the centre.

STEP 3. Turn the model over and fold the left and right edges toward the centre, with the corners at the back facing up.

STEP 4. Fold the top edge toward the centre and bring the back corner to the front.

STEP 5. Fold so that the corners line up with the creases.

STEP 6. Fold so that the corners are pulled out.

Fold the left side in the same way.

STEP 7. Fold so that the left and right corners meet the top corner.

STEP 8. Fold so that the right corner lines up with the left corner.

STEP 9. Fold the edge diagonally.

STEP 10. Fold the corners inward.

STEP 11. Fold the left side in the same way.

STEP 12. Fold the top corner down.

STEP 13. Fold so that the corners sit against the edges.

STEP 14. Fold the corners diagonally.

STEP 15. Fold inward along the crease.

STEP 16. Fold the left side in the same way.

STEP 17. Fold the top edge along the crease.

STEP 18. Fold it back in half.

STEP 19. Turn the model over and fold the corners diagonally.

STEP 20. Fold diagonally once more.

STEP 21. Once the crease is firm, open the paper out again and fold it over along that crease.

STEP 22. Fold the corners inward.

STEP 23. Fold the corners diagonally.

STEP 24. Fold inward along the crease.

STEP 25. Fold the other side in the same way and your Tyrannosaurus is complete.