The Greek work "dodeka" means "twelve", and the do-deca-ball or duodecahedron has twelve holes in its surface, each in the shape of a pentagon. You may recognize it as a soccer ball.

THE STRIPS: First of all, make six strips, each a different color. The paper should be stiffer than wrapping paper, but lighter than the cardboard of which boxes are made. The larger you want your ball, the stiffer the paper should be. The strips should be exactly 18 times as long as they are wide. Strips 12 inches long (plus overlap) by 5/8 inches wide make a nice ball about 3 1/2 inches in diameter. Cut strips exactly.

LAYING OUT THE STRIPS: Lay out 5 strips in the form of a 5-pointed star as in (fig.1 - see below). Notice that each strip goes over or under each of the other four strips, as in ordinary flat weaving. There is just one simple rule to remember: where 3 strips come together and cross each other (fig.2) the left hand strip will always go over the right hand strip. That occurs 5 times in your 5-pointed star, and it is a good idea to check each set of three to make sure they obey this rule.

INSTALLING THE EQUATOR: You have one strip left over; we call it the equator because it is going to go around the middle of the ball. First, glue the ends of this strip together to form a circle. For this size ball, the overlap for gluing is a quarter of an inch. For smaller balls, it is proportionately smaller. A few paper clips will come in handy to hold the strip together while the glue or paste is drying. Now, if you look at Fig.2, you will see a big circle around the outside, drawn with dotted lines. It represents the position of the equator - except thaqt instead of flattening out the equator to fit the flat 5-pointed star, you will have to curve the points of the star upward so that they will fit onto your smaller equator.

FINISHING THE NORTH POLE: To finish, take any one of your five unglued strips and glue its ends together, using the overlap. A paperclip will again be useful while the glue is drying. You will be able to find one pair of the clipped-together strips that is all ready to crisscross with the strip you have glued, one going over and the other going under the glued strip. After you have 3 strips completed, beside the equator, you should now be able to glue the two remaining strips, making sure that any one strip passes alternately over and under the other strips. The clips may be removed, and the duodecahedron is complete.