Hexaflexagons Worksheet

This double-sided worksheet outlines instructions for making a trihexaflexagon and a hexahexaflexagon.

Equipment needed

Scissors. tape/glue

Curriculum Topics Covered

3D spatial reasoning; construction from paper; graph theory and structures

Hexaflexagons are six-sided shapes made from folded paper which may be ‘flexed’ or folded, and opened out to reveal hidden faces. They were discovered by British mathematician Arthur Stone in 1939, when his work at Harvard, with their US sized paper, led him to cut strips off his sheets of UK paper, and folding these strips into equilateral triangles led to the discovery of these fascinating mathematical toys. This double-sided worksheet outlines instructions for making a trihexaflexagon and a hexahexaflexagon, the first of which is fairly straightforward and the second harder to make and flex. This activity will build students’ mathematical thinking skills, by challenging them both to follow instructions and construct 60 degree angles, as well as providing them with an object they can take away and continue playing with after the session.