Cube net maker
Cube net template with tabs
Six squares in a cross with seven glue tabs. Pick the sheet: the tool gives the biggest side it holds, and the net prints at true size.
How to fold it
Print at 100%, then measure one side with a ruler: it should match the size on screen. A scaled sheet makes all twelve edges wrong at once.
Cut the outline with the tabs.
Crease every dashed line, tab creases included, and fold each one back and forth once.
Glue the end tab to make a ring of four squares.
Fold the bottom square in with its three tabs inside the ring, and glue.
Put in whatever goes inside, then fold the top square down the same way: once glued, a cube stays shut.
How the template is drawn
Which net
A cube has 11 different nets. This is the cross: four faces in a row, with the top and bottom faces on the second one. On Letter it prints on one sheet up to a side of 59 mm (2.32 in).
Tabs that never collide
Every tab is 12 mm (0.47 in) deep, 30% of the side and at most 12 mm, cut at 45° at both ends, so two tabs meeting at a corner never overlap on the sheet.
Seven tabs
One on the end of the row, three on the top face and three on the bottom face, each glued to the inside of a wall.
True side length
The side you type is the inside size. Each face is drawn one board thickness larger, so the inner edges keep that length.
Count check
Six faces, twelve edges, eight corners: a quick way to check a folded cube in class.
In class and as a gift box
For a lesson on nets, print it plain and fold it with the dashed lines outside to see the creases. As a gift box, give it a colour, a pattern and a name on the front face; the tabs stay grey so you know where the glue goes.
A cube that opens without tearing needs a lid: a square box with lid or a tuck end box with equal sides. For other solids, the square pyramid folds from a base and four triangles, and the gable box adds a roof.
Of the eleven different nets that fold into a cube, this is the cross, the one most people picture first. The surface is six times the side squared, and the volume is the side cubed, so doubling the side multiplies the volume by eight. In math class, fold the net, measure one face and work out both numbers to compare with the folded cube. The same arithmetic tells you how much card a set of photo cubes or a pair of dice will need before you start.
