The Origami Holiday Tree

November 24, 2025 — January 20, 2026

Closed

Included with admission.
Floor 1, Futter Gallery

Artificial evergreen tree covered with more than 1000 origami (folded paper) ornaments is displayed in front of photo installation of various faces.
Alvaro Keding/© AMNH
An annual New York City tradition, the delightfully decorated Origami Holiday Tree has been a popular feature of the holiday season at the Museum for decades.

This year’s dazzling 13-foot holiday tree, on the theme New Beginnings, celebrates the spectacular variety of species that evolved after an asteroid impact ended the age of dinosaurs some 66 million years ago.

Among the more than 1,000 origami pieces are dinosaurs and other extinct reptiles—pterosaurs that ruled the skies, mosasaurs and plesiosaurs that roamed the seas, as well as Triceratops and T. rex, which walked the Earth during the Cretaceous Period.

The tree also includes an array of mammals and insects that evolved after the asteroid impact.

These new mammals include ancestors of the Museum’s iconic Blue Whale, as well as our primate ancestors. Look for birds, too—dinosaurs living among us today.

Explore more about the asteroid’s impact on the planet in the Museum’s new exhibition, Impact: The End of the Age of Dinosaurs. Look also for the spectacular Stegosaurus named Apex in its new home on the fourth floor. 

Different-colored folded papers in the shapes of dinosaurs and animals among the branches of an artificial evergreen tree. © Alvaro Keding/AMNH
Different-colored folded papers in the shapes of dinosaurs and animals among the branches of an artificial evergreen tree. © Alvaro Keding/AMNH

Produced in partnership with OrigamiUSA, the Origami Holiday Tree is delightfully decorated with hand-folded paper models created by local, national, and international origami artists. Learn more about the making of the Origami Holiday Tree and find out how to make your own origami models!

Article The Making of the Origami Holiday Tree One 13-foot tree and 1,000 origami models make this tree a spectacular Museum tradition. Video Origami How-To Videos Use our instructional origami videos and diagrams, and master the art of paper folding.