A prism is a polyhedron that is formed by two equal and parallel faces called bases and different side faces which are parallelograms. Depending on the base of the prism these will have different numbers of sides and will be given a different name. For example, 6 sided bases form hexagonal prisms. Rectangular prisms are very common as they can fit into may different spaces easily and are good for storage. They are sometimes known as a "cuboid", differentiated from a cube because the base sides are not all of even length (a rectangle base has 4 sides, but not all the sides are of the same length, although they are all at right angles). Keep reading oneHOWTO and we'll show you how to make a rectangular prism with paper.
- template (or if not, a pencil, ruler and rubber to draw it)
- scissors
- glue
- paper, construction paper or cardboard
Copy this rectangular prism template on paper, construction paper or cardboard by printing it and/or tracing it. We have used thick black lines so that we can more easily show you what to do as a guide, but you don't need to use them if you don't want to when making your rectangular prism.
Cut out the prism template with scissors. The tabs on the side of the rectangular prism template are specially designed to seal the cuboid tight when you glue them. They are cut at 45º angles so that they all fit snugly together.
Fold along all the lines of the template. Try to put the rectangular prism together before adding glue to be sure where each tab will go and to make sure the template has been drawn and cut out correctly. Since we are using paper, it will be a little flimsy. depending on how you want to use your rectangular prism, you should consider which type of material you want to make it from.
Put glue on one of the tabs of the sides of the rectangular prism and paste it into place. Press it with your fingers so that it is well attached. Do the same with the others. You will be able to use a solvent free glue stick like the one below. This will be good as it won't "wet" the paper too much and is safe to use for kids.
Once all the tabs have been glued into place, check that the shape is properly rectangular and there you have it, your prism with rectangular base from paper!
I you liked this handcraft you may also be interested in making the following:
- Pyramid out of cardboard
- Cylinder out of cardboard
- Cube out of cardboard
If you want to read similar articles to How to Make a Rectangular Prism with Paper, we recommend you visit our Art & handicraft category.
- If you are not a good drawer, copy the image template and paste it into a Word document. Make it as big as you want and print it out.
- You can make a rectangular prism using coloured construction paper. Choose the colour you like!
- We recommend that you try to put it together first to ensure it will fit before you start applying the glue. Once you are sure it will all fit together, start putting glue on the tabs and pasting them. Do this on all tabs.