Paper Doll Houses

Materials Required:

• Poster board or butcher paper
• Markers
• Yardstick
• Paper dolls
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Push Pins

Instructions:
Before you begin creating a paper doll house, you must have paper dolls. If your child does not already have a set of paper dolls, they are easy to obtain. Simply cut out figures from a magazine or catalog, or print off ready made characters from websites on the internet specializing in online dolls. It is important to have dolls beforehand so that you know how large to make the house.

Examine your paper dolls to get a feel for their size. Larger dolls will need larger rooms with higher ceilings and vice versa. Then discuss and plan your dollhouse with your child. How many rooms will it have? Will there be a tower or an elevator? Is there something special to include?

On the large piece of butcher paper or poster board, lightly sketch an outline of a house. Use the yardstick to keep lines straight. Your house will be open, much like a traditional doll house and will only be one room deep.

Use the yard stick to create floors and then to divide rooms. Be sure to measure your dolls at this stage to ensure the rooms are tall enough and large enough. Create an elevator or a set of stairs between each floor as desired. Don’t forget the kitchen and bathrooms.

Then, use a black marker to darken all of the lines. Use the yardstick again to ensure the lines are straight. Cut off any extra paper or poster board and your basic house is complete.

Let your child exercise her creativity in drawing furniture, swimming pools, plants and accessories in each room. The possibilities are endless and you can help her decide where the bathroom should go and what sort of furniture should go in the tower room. If you are feeling especially creative, you can also create secret passageways between rooms.

Only when every room is colored and completed is the paper doll house finished. It might be weeks before your child has it exactly right. Then, hang the house on the wall using the pushpins and let her enjoy it.