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Last updated 22/11/2025

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This page is being used to collect information about the history of ways Froebel's Fold and One Cut Method of Constructing a Hexagon from a Square. Please contact me if you know any of this information is incorrect or if you have any other information that should be added. Thank you.

The attribution of this method to Froebel can be found in 'Friedrich Fröbels Course of Paper-Cutting' by Eleonore Heerwart (see entry for 1899).

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1859

'Manuel pratique des jardins d'enfants de Frédéric Froebel', which was compiled by J F Jacobs and published by F Claassen in Brussells and L Hachette and Cie in Paris in 1859, contains a description of a method of creating a Fold and One Cut Hexagon from a square:

In English, roughly, 'fold the square of paper on one of its diagonals; you have a rectangle triangle. Find the midpoint of the base ... and from this point start two obliques which divide the space around this point into three equal angles ... then cut off the superfluous corners.'

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1863

'De Kleine Papierwerkers: Volume 4: Het Knippen en plakken' (Cutting and Pasting), written by Elise Van Calcar and published by K H Schadd in Amsterdam in 1863, shows how to create a hexagon from a square using the same method as in Jacobs above.

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1865

In 'De Frobelsche Kartonwerkers' by Elise Van Calcar, which was published by K H Schadd in Amsterdam in 1865.

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1876

'Des Kindes Erste Beschaftigungsbuch' by E Barth and W Niederley, which was first published in Bielefeld and Leipzig, and the foreword of which is dated October 1876.

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1887

As 'Rosace' in 'Le Travail Manuel a L'ecole Primaire' by M. Coste et J. Lapassade, which was published by Lafon, Vve Ribaut et Tonnet in Pau and A Jeande in Paris in 1887.

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Part 2 of 'Die Praxis' of 'Theoretisches und praktisches Handbuch der Fröbelschen Erziehungslehre' by Bertha von Marentholtz-Bülow, which was published by George H Wigand in Kassel in 1887.

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In 'Primary Methods: A Complete and Methodical Presentation of the Use of Kindergarten Material in the Primary School' by W N Hailmann, which was published by A S Barnes and Company in New York and Chicago in 1887.

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1899

In 'Friedrich Fröbels Course of Paper-Cutting' by Eleonore Heerwart, which was published by Swan Sonnenschein and Co in London in 1889, the author attributes this method to Froebel.

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1892

In 'Paper Folding and Cutting' by Katherine M Ball, which was published by the Prang Educational Company in Boston in 1892.

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In 'Le Travail Manuel a L'ecole Primaire' by Jully & Rocheron, which was published by Librairie Classique Eugene Belin in Paris in 1892.

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In 'How to Teach Paper-Folding and Cutting' by Norma MacLeod, which was published by March Brothers in Lebanon, Ohio in 1892.

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1893

In 'Paper and Scissors in the Schoolroom' by Emily Weaver, which was published by Milton Bradley Company in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1893

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1894

In 'Old Glory: The Flag of Our Country: A Study in History and a Lesson in Paperfolding: Also Some Easy Lessons in Cutting and Folding' by Dr Albert Elias Maltby, which was published in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania in 1894.

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1909

In 'Petit Manuel de Travaux d'Amateurs' by H de Graffigny was published by Collection A L Guyot in Paris in 1909, under the title 'Former un hexagone avec un carre'.

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1913

'Trabajo Manual' by C Champy Alvear, which was published by Cabaut y Cia in Buenos Aires in 1913, provides five ways of obtaining a regular hexagon by folding paper:

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1914

'El Trabajo Manual en la Escuela' by Félix Martí Alpera, which was published by Libreria de los Sucesores de Hernando in Madrid in 1914.

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1895

In 'L'enseignement manuel dans les ecoles du degre primaire (garcons)' by Rene Leblanc, which was published by Librairie Larousse in Paris in 1895.

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In 'Geometrie, Dessin et Travaux Manuels - Cours Moyen', produced under the direction of M E. Cazes, which was published by Librairie Ch. Delagrave in Paris in 1895.

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1896

'Pleasant Work for Busy Fingers' by Maggie Browne, which is an English version of 'Des Kindes Erste Beschaftigungsbuch', and was published by Cassell and Company in London in 1896. It contains the method of creating a fold and one cut hexagon pictured under the entry for 1876 above.

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1939

A way of obtaining a regular hexagon from irregularly-shaped paper appears in 'Trabajo Manual Educativo' by Araminta V Aramburu, which was published by F Crespillo in Buenos Aires in 1939.

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