There is no more democratic piece of origami than a paper airplane. No special paper, no fancy tools, no decades of experience — just a sheet that's lying around and the urge to throw something across the room. This is the short version of the classic dart: eight pictures, zero words, done in about a minute.

It's the fold most of us learn as kids and quietly revisit at every boring meeting since. The shape is so simple that you can make one from a scrap of A4 and adjust the wings until it loops or glides just the way you like. Teach it to a child and you've handed them an afternoon of entertainment; keep one on your desk and you've got a reminder that origami doesn't always have to be serious.

STEP 1.

STEP 2.

STEP 3.

STEP 4.

STEP 5.

STEP 6.

STEP 7.

STEP 8.