Not every origami tutorial needs words. This little tropical fish is one of those models that explains itself perfectly well in pictures, so instead of reading through paragraphs, you simply look at what comes next and copy it. Nine diagrams, a square sheet of paper, and you are done.

That makes it a lovely one to hand to a child, or to fold when you just want something finished quickly rather than a project that takes an hour. Folding a shoal of them in different colors is half the fun, and they look great stuck onto cards or scattered across a summer display. If you prefer written instructions for every move, there is a longer tropical fish tutorial on the site you can follow instead.

This tropical fish is a picture-only tutorial: the nine diagrams below take you from a square sheet to a finished fish, one fold at a time. Simply follow the illustrations in order, and use the arrows and dotted lines on each picture as your guide.

STEP 1.

STEP 2.

STEP 3.

STEP 4.

STEP 5.

STEP 6.

STEP 7.

STEP 8.

STEP 9.

And there you have it: a little origami tropical fish, ready to swim off across a card, a gift tag or a summer decoration.