As soon as I finished designing one of these adorable paper cottages, the girls went off to play with it while I made a bunch more! We had lots of fun playing with these, and then took them apart and stored them flat in a file folder for future play times. They are very frugal to make, and so bright and cheerful!
To make your own, you will need colorful cardstock, some strips of self-adhesive velcro, scissors, and an exact-o knife. For the house walls, on the colored card stock, print out the template I designed here. It’s FREE for personal use, but I would love if you kindly leave us some comment love if you use it! Cut it out on the solid lines, and fold on the dotted lines of the template. You will need an exact-o knife to cut open the windows (a grown-up job only!!). Use strips of adhesive velcro on the joints of the house. I had to cut the velcro tabs into smaller pieces. This lets your child experiment with different color combinations, and you can build and re-build your rainbow village over and over again!
For the roof, cut an 8 1/2″ x 11″ sheet of paper in half, and then fold it in half to lay on top of the house. I used decorative edge scissors to make our houses look a bit like cottages.
Time to play!!!
Our peg dolls enjoyed travelling from house to house and exploring all of the different colors!
Emily loved that she could pop open the roof on one side, and play with the peg doll inside the house. Hello, peg doll!
The girls enjoyed opening and closing the doors and windows!
Clara’s peg doll started to get a bit tired from all that travelling, so she took a nap for a bit inside one of the houses.
She came back out to play with one of the neighbors!
Download the Free Printable Paper House Here
Have fun!!
More Printable Fun to Explore:
I linked this post to:
Get Your Craft On @ Today’s Creative Blog
Works for Me Wednesday
Weekend Wrap Up @ Tatertots and Jello
Made by You Monday @ Skip to My Lou
OMG, I LOVE this. Just LOVE it.
Thanks so much!
You’re welcome! They are so much fun!
oohhh my goodness this is adorable!!!
🙂 They make me smile just looking at them! Have fun!
Dear Valerie,
Can I be Godzilla later?
Love,
Mark
Not if Merlin beats you to it!
Hmmmm…… I wonder if it would work to trace it out and put it on fun foam for durability.
It’s worth a try!
Okay, I’m bookmarking these for homemade Christmas present ideas!
You really like to think ahead!! 🙂
Salaam! Very cute idea and I think my daughters would love it.
Oh my youngest just turned 2 and has the same dress as your little one. 🙂 (PS I just got a pink one for $1.50 on clearance at Target, woo hoo!)
It’s one of my fav dresses on her! We also got it on clearance at Target — I love that place! 🙂
I homeschool my children and this is a great way to explaining how to read a map, especially for children who are visual spatial. Thanks again.
That is a GREAT idea!!!
Oh, how adorable- it looks like Munchkinland! (“We represent the Lullaby League…”)
Ha!!
This is so cute! Maybe I’ll be brave and try it out too – thanks for the printable!
Be brave! I know you can do it! 😉
Comment love, comment love! Thanks for sharing!
🙂
That is just too cute. I can’t even stand it. Thanks for sharing the printable!
You’re very welcome. They are fun to make (and play with)!
I’m bookmarking this one. Thank you for sharing the pattern. Its just the kind of activity that my children would love, again!
Perfect! Have fun!! xoxo
You have so many cute ideas!!! My girls would be in heaven if I did all that. I need to start doing more! Love the little houses!! 🙂
You DO a lot already!! These are a lot of fun — enjoy!
Thanks! It’s so cute 🙂
🙂 You’re welcome!
These are so cool. The kiddos are going to love them! Thanks. Your site has become my go to place for ideas to do with the kids on my days off. THANKS
That makes me very happy!! xoxo
Valerie these ae gorgeous! Great idea
Thanks so much, LJ! I might add other buildings/props to the rainbow village soon. They are so much fun!!
Great idea, thank you!
You’re welcome, Viktoria! Enjoy!!
I like that you used such vibrant colors! This project could be tweaked to add a post office, school, grocery store etc. Great thinking! Love this project because it is so economical and encourages imaginative play!
I totally agree — bright colors makes everything more fun! 🙂 And I’ve received some requests from the girls for more rainbow village props/building, so I’ll be busy for awhile… 😉 Fun!
I like that they can be taken apart and put together in different ways. I may need to create a whole neighborhood for my kids.
It would work perfectly for a classroom — especially since they lay flat for storage and don’t take up a lot of space that way! The kiddos can decorate their houses and cut them out themselves too. Have fun!! 🙂
That’s gorgeous! Looks like it should be displayed somewhere. Every chance to play is a new adventure for your girls. So sweet.
I might do a Winter village around Christmas time and display with some lights inside. Now you’ve given me an idea! 🙂
I love these, I think I will make some on my next visit with my granddaughters.
Fantastic!! Enjoy! 🙂
These are super cute!
Thanks!! 🙂
Holy cow. I am impressed. 🙂
😀
Valerie,
I LOVE your blog and all your great ideas. I am terrible about leaving people comments, but wanted to write and say thanks for all the great resources you provide. My boys and I are going to make your houses today. It is terribly hot where we live and we even postponed a trip to the zoo because of the heat index. This will be a fun activity to do while we stay cool inside. THANKS again!
I’m so happy you’re doing this! Hope the boys have fun! xoxo
Thanks for sharing these, they’re comepletely adorable!
You’re welcome — enjoy!
These are amazing! I don’t know if I shoul make a bunch for the kiddos at school, or for my neices and son first. They are going to love these, especially the easy storage part!
Perfect!! They are all going to have a great time! My girls are very much still enjoying their village, and have made requests for other structures as well!
Thank you so much for sharing this project! The houses looks so adorable. I can’t wait to try it out with my daughter 🙂
Hippie!! Have a great time! xoxo
Love the Rainbow Village houses. My girls had a great time decorating them on a rainy day!
Thanks for sharing,
Monica
Thank you so much! We’re just putting the finishing touches on our first one!
Those are so darn cute. Love the colors you used.
Too cute! I can’t wait to use this. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing this! I have four children at home sick today and this has been a lovely project for us.
My five year old is cutting her houses out right now, thank you for sharing!
sooooo adorable! i’m going to use them for decorations for my nephew’s moose and zee birthday party!
Thanks for the pdf file of the paper doll house… am sure my daughter would love this!!!! best regards, Jeanne
I’m thinking about making a little Christmas village using your pattern. thanks!
Thank you for posting the template. We are currently in assembly mode. The kids are excited to play with them.
Thanks! I like it. Going to build plenty tomorrow for our town.
Thank you from Russia!!! It’s beautiful!