Paper craft

Mini Paper Town

Challenge (level 5 of 5)
75 min
11 steps
Ages 9–14 (a guide, not a rule)

Uses scissors
Uses glue
Adult help suggested

Start Making Print with template

Every building here starts as a flat net: a row of walls with glue tabs. The house adds a folded roof on two pointed ends, the bakery closes with a lid, and the clock tower ends in a four-sided pyramid. Glue them onto the printed street and your town is ready for toy cars and figures.

Before you start

You need

Card stock printed with sheet 1 (house walls, house roof, street mat), 216 x 279 mm (8.5 x 11 in (Letter) or A4)
Card stock printed with sheet 2 (shop and tower), 216 x 279 mm (8.5 x 11 in (Letter) or A4). Thin card stock (about 160 g/m², 60 lb) makes buildings that stand straight.
Blunt-tip scissors
Glue stick
Ruler (to check the scale bar and to help crease)

Decorating (optional): The buildings come colored. Add flowers, signs, curtains or people in the windows before cutting.

No card stock printed with sheet 1 (house walls, house roof, street mat)? Small pieces of clear tape can replace glue on any tab that will not stick.

For the grown-up: Help with the many inside corners between tabs, and with holding each box while its last tabs dry.

Use blunt-tip scissors and cut away from your fingers.

How to place the paper before the first step — **Your paper:** Print both sheets at 100% (Actual size) on card stock. Check that each 5 cm bar measures 5 cm. Start with sheet 1.

Mountain fold: pink dash-dot. Fold away from you, like a mountain.
Crease: a thin gray line where you folded before.
Cut: a thick solid line with scissors.
Glue: a yellow area marked "glue".

Step by step

Each step shows what to do (left) and how it should look after (right).

Do this

Result

Step 1 of 11 Cut From sheet 1, cut out the house walls, the house roof and the street mat. Keep every tab.
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Result

Step 2 of 11 Fold and unfold Crease every dashed line on the house walls, bending away from the printed side. Fold the roof in half along its middle line.
Do this

Result

Step 3 of 11 Glue Fold the four walls into a ring. Glue the side tab inside the far edge of the front wall and hold it.
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Result

Step 4 of 11 Glue Fold all the small top tabs inward. Rub glue on them and lay the roof on top, its fold resting on the two pointed ends.
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Result

Step 5 of 11 Cut From sheet 2, cut out the shop and the tower. Keep every tab. (Now sheet 2: the shop and the tower.)
Do this

Result

Step 6 of 11 Fold and unfold Crease every dashed line on both pieces, bending away from the printed side.
Do this

Result

Step 7 of 11 Glue Shop: fold the walls into a ring and glue the side tab inside the front wall.
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Result

Step 8 of 11 Glue Close the shop: rub glue on the three lid tabs, fold the lid over and tuck the tabs inside the walls. Press until they hold.
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Result

Step 9 of 11 Glue Tower: fold the walls into a ring and glue the side tab inside the front wall. (The tower piece, shown larger.)
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Result

Step 10 of 11 Glue Bend the four roof triangles in. Glue each triangle's tab under the next one so all four tips meet in a point.
Do this

Result

Step 11 of 11 Glue Fold each building's bottom tabs inward, rub glue under them and press the building onto its marked spot, front facing the street. (The street mat with the three finished buildings held just above their spots.)

A paper street with a cream house with a red roof, a yellow bakery and an orange clock tower with a blue pointed roof.

You made it!

Yours may look a little different. That is part of making things by hand.

Print the steps

Template

Print the template at 100% (Actual size), not "Fit to page". Then measure the check bar with a ruler: it must be 5 cm (2 in) long.

Sheet 1: house walls, house roof and street mat · 184 × 214 mm. The house is 46 x 36 mm and 54 mm tall. Print at 100%.
Sheet 2: shop and tower · 180 × 218 mm. The tower is 86 mm (about 3.4 in) tall. Print at 100%.

Print the template

If something goes wrong

The walls do not meet at the corner.

Check the 5 cm bar: if it is off, print again at 100% (Actual size). Crease each fold sharply before gluing.

The roof triangles of the tower do not meet in a point.

Glue one tab at a time and press each from inside with a pencil while the glue sets.

A building leans.

Make sure both bottom tabs are folded inward and glued flat, and that the walls form a square ring.

The shop lid pops open.

Push its tabs fully inside the walls and hold the lid down for a minute.

Helpful hints

Score the dashed lines with a ruler edge first: card stock folds much more neatly.
Build one building at a time and let each one dry before the next.

An original PlayOwl project.