In today’s post: Learn how to use a sheet of notebook paper to make a paper football so you teach your kids to play flick football.
You guys remember flick football, right? Anytime we had extra study time back in junior high people would tear out a piece of notebook paper and start folding a paper football. Then they’d flick them across the table at each other, trying to get the footballs to fly through the goalposts someone else would make with their hands. I’m guessing our teachers HATED paper footballs, but they sure were fun!
Nowadays kids have so many electronic distractions that they don’t tend to get bored as often. That means they don’t spend time doing things like folding paper footballs to flick across the room. That makes me a little sad, so I spent a few minutes last week teaching my 11 year old how to fold a paper football. He had a blast!
If you’re looking for an easy, non-electronic game your kids can make and play, teach them how to make paper footballs!
How to make a paper football
You can watch this video to see how to make a paper football and play with it. Written instructions for folding a paper football follow the video. (Note: if the video isn’t showing up below, that means you are using an ad-blocker. Whitelist this site in order to see the video. I know, ads are annoying, but they support my site and allow me to create tons of free content for you. Thanks!)
Paper Football Folding Instructions
1 – Fold a sheet of notebook paper in half lengthwise and crease. Tear along the crease and set aside one half. 2 – Fold the other half of the paper in half lengthwise again, creating a long strip. 3 – At one short end, fold up the corner to create a triangle. 4 – Tightly fold the triangle up the strip. Crease well.
5 – Continue folding up the triangles until you have a square. 6 – Unfold the last fold you made so there is a square on the left side and a triangle on the right. 7 – Fold down the top left corner so you have two mirror image triangles. 8. Tear the tip off the lefthand triangle.
9. Open up the “pocket” that the right triangle creates in the center. 10. Tuck the left triangle into that pocket. Your paper football is complete.
To flick a paper football, hold it like you see above with one finger. Using the other hand, “flick” your pointer finger against the long straight edge, attempting to get the football to fly up into the air.
Paper football rules
In the video, I explain the basic method of playing: flicking a football through goalposts to score a touchdown (ya, that’s technically a field goal, but we’re calling it a touchdown). Flicking the football through the goalposts is fun, and it’s what most of us remember playing back in school. However, if you’d like to make the game a bit more complicated, you can try to score touchdowns by sliding the football across the table and attempting to get it to stop at the very edge of the table, with part of it actually hanging off the table. (This may be too difficult for most younger kids to do.) That’s a touchdown, and after you make one you can try for an extra point by flicking a field goal.
Paper football tips
- Don’t sit too close to your opponent! Paper footballs have fairly sharp corners and you really don’t want to accidentally flick one right into your opponent’s eyes. If you sit farther apart your football won’t be traveling as fast when it goes through the goalpost. If you’re playing with younger children, make a goalpost with pipe cleaners that you stick into an upside down plastic cup so that no one has to flick a football at anyone else’s face.
- If you’d like to make a colored paper football, use colored copy paper (cardstock is way too thick to fold well). Even with copy paper, you may want to split that paper into fourths lengthwise before folding. Origami paper can also be used – just cut it so that it’s 4.25 inches wide before you begin folding.
Have fun! Check out our other fun craft and activity ideas for kids right here, or visit one of the posts below:
50 best indoor activities for kids
Margot says
Lol! I remember guys playing this all the time when I was in school! My son never got that interested. I did teach my mom, who was around 90-yo at the time, twofold her plastic shopping bags like this. They take up less room, are pretty tidy, and easy to grab and stick in a pocket or purse to go shopping (here in Chicago the stores charge you for shopping bags so you bring your own).