Mathematically Perfect Spherical Lantern

This lantern was a demand from my kid. He wanted something for Haloween and Diwali as they are occurring very close this year.

I did not want to give a sharp object (compass) to him as he is still young.

So came up with this idea to make perfect equilateral triangles in a circle.

Take some colored papers.

Take something to draw a circle. I used a n old pen stand.

Draw 20 circles and cut them out.

Mark the center by making 2 folds on the circles. Try to keep them as perpendicular as possible, although this is not mandatory. Mark a dot where both the folds meet.

Put another circle touching the center dot and mark the corners.

Not use one of the corner mark and the center mark to make the third mark.

Voila! You have marked a perfect equilateral triangle.

Mark all the 20 circles in same way.

Fold on the marks to make 20 perfect equilateral triangles.

Take 5 pieces and glue them around a vertex. Use the flaps for ease of gluing.

Make 2 such pieces.

Take the remaining 10 pieces and glue them to make a straight part. Make sure the alternate triangles a inverted.

Glue the ends of the body to make a cylinder.

You can see 5 flaps on each side of the body. Glue the end caps with 5 flaps on the 5 flaps of the body. Do this with both the end caps.

Voila! Your perfect spherical lantern without a compass is ready.

Will use 2 variations of this.

1. Draw face and make a jack-o-lantern for Halloween

2. Hang it with light for Diwali