Practice Paper Folding questions for the Cognitive Abilities Test — Grade 3 (Level 9). Every question includes a full explanation of why the correct answer is right and why the tempting distractors are wrong.
24 questions available · medium difficulty · CogAT Grade 3 · Free, no registration required
What Paper Folding measures
A square of paper is folded one or more times, a hole is punched through all the layers at once, and the paper is opened flat again. The child chooses the pattern of holes that results. It is a test of spatial visualisation, and it is one of the few things on the CogAT that genuinely improves with practice, because most children have simply never been asked to do it before.
What a grade 3 paper folding question looks like
The folding is shown as a strip of small pictures read left to right: the flat square, the square after the fold, then the punch. Only the last picture shows the hole. Nearly every item uses one straight fold - an edge brought over to meet the opposite edge - and a single punch. The five answer choices all show a full open square.
At level 9 — grade 3
At Level 9 the folds are nearly always straight and most items use a single fold with a single punch. Two-fold items appear but stay simple, and the punch is often placed centrally where the mirror image is easy to see. If your third grader can consistently predict the result of one fold, they are where they need to be.
Where children go wrong
Forgetting that one punch makes several holes
This is the single most common error and worth checking first. The punch goes through every layer sitting under it, so paper folded once and punched once opens to two holes, not one. Children answering quickly often pick the option showing exactly the holes they watched being punched.
Reflecting across the wrong line
Each hole reappears on the far side of the crease, mirrored. Children often slide the hole straight across instead - keeping it the same distance from the edge rather than the same distance from the fold. The two only coincide when the hole sits dead centre, which is why easier items place it there and harder ones never do.
Choosing by hole count alone
Counting holes eliminates some options and never all of them, because the wrong answers are written to include the right number in the wrong places. A child who has learned to count has learned half of it, and the half that stops working first.
How to practise this at home
Do it with real paper. Fold a square, punch it with a hole punch, and have your child predict the pattern before you open it - then open it together. Ten minutes of that teaches the doubling rule better than any amount of explaining, because the child commits to a prediction and then watches whether it held. Once they are reliably right with one fold, move to two, and do not move on while the number of holes still surprises them.
Common questions about Paper Folding
How many holes should the answer have?
As a rule of thumb each fold doubles them, so one punch on paper folded twice usually opens to four holes. It is a rule of thumb rather than a law, because a punch only passes through the layers directly beneath it.
My child can do this with real paper but not on the page. Is that normal?
Yes, and it is the whole point of the subtest. Doing it with paper is a motor task; doing it on the page is a visualisation task. The gap closes with practice, which is why this subtest responds to preparation more than most.
Is Paper Folding on every level of the CogAT?
It appears in the Nonverbal Battery from the levels taken by third graders upward. Younger children take picture-based nonverbal items instead.
Sample Paper Folding Questions with Answers
10 example questions with full explanations. Use the interactive practice above to work through the complete set.
Question 1easy
The paper is folded, then holes are punched through it. Which picture shows the paper when it is opened out again?
A.a sheet of paper with 2 holes: top far left, top far right
B.a sheet of paper with 1 hole: bottom far right
C.a sheet of paper with 2 holes: bottom far left, bottom far right✓
D.a sheet of paper with 2 holes: top far right, bottom far right
Correct answer: C
The paper is folded once — the left side folds over onto the right — so the sheet ends up 2 layers thick. Punching one hole goes through all 2 layers at once, so opening the paper out gives 2 holes in total, each fold mirroring the ones before it. Option C is the only choice with 2 holes placed symmetrically about every fold. Option B shows the holes only where the punch went through, as if the paper were never opened out. Option D has the right number of holes but mirrors them across the wrong fold. Option A is the correct pattern flipped top-to-bottom.
Question 2easy
The paper is folded, then holes are punched through it. Which picture shows the paper when it is opened out again?
A.a sheet of paper with 1 hole: top centre right
B.a sheet of paper with 2 holes: top centre right, bottom centre right✓
C.a sheet of paper with 2 holes: top centre left, top centre right
D.a sheet of paper with 2 holes: top centre left, bottom centre left
Correct answer: B
The paper is folded once — the bottom folds up over the top — so the sheet ends up 2 layers thick. Punching one hole goes through all 2 layers at once, so opening the paper out gives 2 holes in total, each fold mirroring the ones before it. Option B is the only choice with 2 holes placed symmetrically about every fold. Option A shows the holes only where the punch went through, as if the paper were never opened out. Option C has the right number of holes but mirrors them across the wrong fold. Option D is the correct pattern flipped left-to-right.
Question 3easy
The paper is folded, then holes are punched through it. Which picture shows the paper when it is opened out again?
A.a sheet of paper with 2 holes: top centre right, bottom centre right✓
B.a sheet of paper with 2 holes: bottom centre left, bottom centre right
C.a sheet of paper with 1 hole: bottom centre right
D.a sheet of paper with 2 holes: top centre left, bottom centre left
Correct answer: A
The paper is folded once — the top folds down over the bottom — so the sheet ends up 2 layers thick. Punching one hole goes through all 2 layers at once, so opening the paper out gives 2 holes in total, each fold mirroring the ones before it. Option A is the only choice with 2 holes placed symmetrically about every fold. Option C shows the holes only where the punch went through, as if the paper were never opened out. Option B has the right number of holes but mirrors them across the wrong fold. Option D is the correct pattern flipped left-to-right.
Question 4easy
The paper is folded, then holes are punched through it. Which picture shows the paper when it is opened out again?
A.a sheet of paper with 1 hole: upper middle far right
B.a sheet of paper with 2 holes: upper middle far right, lower middle far right✓
C.a sheet of paper with 2 holes: upper middle far left, upper middle far right
D.a sheet of paper with 2 holes: upper middle far left, lower middle far left
Correct answer: B
The paper is folded once — the bottom folds up over the top — so the sheet ends up 2 layers thick. Punching one hole goes through all 2 layers at once, so opening the paper out gives 2 holes in total, each fold mirroring the ones before it. Option B is the only choice with 2 holes placed symmetrically about every fold. Option A shows the holes only where the punch went through, as if the paper were never opened out. Option C has the right number of holes but mirrors them across the wrong fold. Option D is the correct pattern flipped left-to-right.
Question 5easy
The paper is folded, then holes are punched through it. Which picture shows the paper when it is opened out again?
A.a sheet of paper with 2 holes: lower middle far left, lower middle far right
B.a sheet of paper with 1 hole: lower middle far left
C.a sheet of paper with 2 holes: upper middle far right, lower middle far right
D.a sheet of paper with 2 holes: upper middle far left, lower middle far left✓
Correct answer: D
The paper is folded once — the top folds down over the bottom — so the sheet ends up 2 layers thick. Punching one hole goes through all 2 layers at once, so opening the paper out gives 2 holes in total, each fold mirroring the ones before it. Option D is the only choice with 2 holes placed symmetrically about every fold. Option B shows the holes only where the punch went through, as if the paper were never opened out. Option A has the right number of holes but mirrors them across the wrong fold. Option C is the correct pattern flipped left-to-right.
Question 6easy
The paper is folded, then holes are punched through it. Which picture shows the paper when it is opened out again?
A.a sheet of paper with 2 holes: top centre left, bottom centre left✓
B.a sheet of paper with 2 holes: top centre right, bottom centre right
C.a sheet of paper with 2 holes: bottom centre left, bottom centre right
D.a sheet of paper with 1 hole: bottom centre left
Correct answer: A
The paper is folded once — the top folds down over the bottom — so the sheet ends up 2 layers thick. Punching one hole goes through all 2 layers at once, so opening the paper out gives 2 holes in total, each fold mirroring the ones before it. Option A is the only choice with 2 holes placed symmetrically about every fold. Option D shows the holes only where the punch went through, as if the paper were never opened out. Option C has the right number of holes but mirrors them across the wrong fold. Option B is the correct pattern flipped left-to-right.
Question 7easy
The paper is folded, then holes are punched through it. Which picture shows the paper when it is opened out again?
A.a sheet of paper with 2 holes: upper middle centre left, upper middle centre right✓
B.a sheet of paper with 1 hole: upper middle centre right
C.a sheet of paper with 2 holes: lower middle centre left, lower middle centre right
D.a sheet of paper with 2 holes: upper middle centre right, lower middle centre right
Correct answer: A
The paper is folded once — the left side folds over onto the right — so the sheet ends up 2 layers thick. Punching one hole goes through all 2 layers at once, so opening the paper out gives 2 holes in total, each fold mirroring the ones before it. Option A is the only choice with 2 holes placed symmetrically about every fold. Option B shows the holes only where the punch went through, as if the paper were never opened out. Option D has the right number of holes but mirrors them across the wrong fold. Option C is the correct pattern flipped top-to-bottom.
Question 8easy
The paper is folded, then holes are punched through it. Which picture shows the paper when it is opened out again?
A.a sheet of paper with 2 holes: top far left, bottom far left
B.a sheet of paper with 1 hole: bottom far right
C.a sheet of paper with 2 holes: top far right, bottom far right✓
D.a sheet of paper with 2 holes: bottom far left, bottom far right
Correct answer: C
The paper is folded once — the top folds down over the bottom — so the sheet ends up 2 layers thick. Punching one hole goes through all 2 layers at once, so opening the paper out gives 2 holes in total, each fold mirroring the ones before it. Option C is the only choice with 2 holes placed symmetrically about every fold. Option B shows the holes only where the punch went through, as if the paper were never opened out. Option D has the right number of holes but mirrors them across the wrong fold. Option A is the correct pattern flipped left-to-right.
Question 9easy
The paper is folded, then holes are punched through it. Which picture shows the paper when it is opened out again?
A.a sheet of paper with 2 holes: upper middle far left, upper middle far right
B.a sheet of paper with 2 holes: upper middle far right, lower middle far right
C.a sheet of paper with 1 hole: upper middle far left
D.a sheet of paper with 2 holes: upper middle far left, lower middle far left✓
Correct answer: D
The paper is folded once — the bottom folds up over the top — so the sheet ends up 2 layers thick. Punching one hole goes through all 2 layers at once, so opening the paper out gives 2 holes in total, each fold mirroring the ones before it. Option D is the only choice with 2 holes placed symmetrically about every fold. Option C shows the holes only where the punch went through, as if the paper were never opened out. Option A has the right number of holes but mirrors them across the wrong fold. Option B is the correct pattern flipped left-to-right.
Question 10easy
The paper is folded, then holes are punched through it. Which picture shows the paper when it is opened out again?
A.a sheet of paper with 2 holes: top far right, bottom far right
B.a sheet of paper with 2 holes: top far left, bottom far left✓
C.a sheet of paper with 2 holes: top far left, top far right
D.a sheet of paper with 1 hole: top far left
Correct answer: B
The paper is folded once — the bottom folds up over the top — so the sheet ends up 2 layers thick. Punching one hole goes through all 2 layers at once, so opening the paper out gives 2 holes in total, each fold mirroring the ones before it. Option B is the only choice with 2 holes placed symmetrically about every fold. Option D shows the holes only where the punch went through, as if the paper were never opened out. Option C has the right number of holes but mirrors them across the wrong fold. Option A is the correct pattern flipped left-to-right.