You can make paper houses and stores and create a village of houses. This is a blank pattern, so you can create
anything from your own home or neighborhood to 'gingerbread' houses or Santa's workshop.
This project is based on the free "Color, Cut, and Fold Village" offered by Bridge to Reading. PC owners
should simply visit their site and download the program.
(http://www.wolfenet.com/~por/foldup.html)
Their program includes many different variations on the
houses and stores, and includes the blank patterns, too.
I made this set of patterns based on their idea, and added a couple of my own, so that Mac owners and owners
of other computers could also have fun with this idea.
This project is pretty easy to do for children ages about 6 and older. Younger children might need help with
cutting and drawing some of house details at the right spots.
Materials Needed:
----------------
Printed paper patterns (below)
Tape or Glue - thick craft glue will work the best
Crayons or markers to decorate the house with
Optional construction paper, pipe cleaners, cotton, anything to decorate house with
Before you start
---------------
1. Find a place to work
2. Gather all your materials.
3. Read all the directions.
Making the Decorations
---------------------
Read all the directions before starting. If you feel unsure about how this all goes together, print an extra one and
just cut it out and put it together before working on the decorated house.
Step 1 - Print Patterns
---------------------
Choose the decoration you want to make. Print the pattern(s).
House and Roof
Store (includes roof)
Box House (2 patterns)
Mac Owners should use the PICT files, which they can print with "Simpletext" or "Teachtext" (or some
graphic programs). When printing to a laserwriter, Mac owners will need to use Page Setup and hit Options
and select Larger Print Area, and then print the pattern.
The patterns can be printed on thick paper or cardstock - or made with computer paper. You can also take your
printouts to a copy shop to have them duplicated on heavy paper, if your printer cannot print on heavy paper. The
roof patterns can simply be traced and cut out of construction paper. You can also print the houses scaled to
slightly different sizes for even more variety.
Step 2 - Color/Decorate
----------------------
Decorate your house. When coloring the back of the house, turn the paper around,
so that you are drawing the back 'right side up'. The houses can have all sorts of
details - different style windows, shutters, bushes, flowers, flower boxes, or holiday
decorations. A green pipecleaner can make a fine wreath. Faces can be drawn in
the windows. If you're making a store, draw large display windows and be sure to
put a sign on the store showing what it is selling. You can also use stickers,
photographs, or magazine cutouts to decorate your house.
You should do most of the decorating at this point, but 3-D decorations that might
get in the way of folding the house might be better glued on after the house is assembled.
Step 3 - Cut
-----------
Cut out the patterns along all the outside lines. The house pattern has one line marked (between the tabs on the
side of house and inner roof) that will also need to be cut.
Step 4 - Crease and then Glue
---------------------------
Regular House and Store
----------------------
Fold the house on all the lines. Make the folds sharp. All the folds go in the same direction, and, in the end, all
the folds are 90 degree angle folds. The house should begin to take shape as you do the folding. First glue the
tabs that attach the inner roof and back of the house to the sides. Then put glue on the roof tabs, and glue the
roof to the house. Then glue the little tab on the chimney, making it shaped like a box. There should be two tabs
on the slanted lines that fold under/inwards - those will attach the chimney to the roof, and will be hidden inside
the chimney when it is attached to the roof. Just put glue on the underside of the tabs and gently press it on the
roof.
Box House
---------
Fold the house on all the lines. Make the folds sharp.
The top of the house has tabs that reinforce those top edges. Apply glue and fold all the tabs on the top of the sides of the house and front of the house down to the back/inside (there are 5 of them).
Apply glue to the 2 bottom side tabs and glue the bottom of the house to the sides. Apply glue to the bottom back tab, and glue the back of the house (which has the attached roof) to to the bottom tab. Apply glue to the two side tabs, and glue the sides of the house together. Do not glue the roof at all. Make the optional chimney as above.
Step 5 - Add any additional 3-D decorations
---------------------------------------
If you put a chimney on your house, a cotton ball can make some nice smoke. A green pipecleaner can make a
fine wreath. Rolled up paper can make logs and turn your house into a 'log cabin'. Your imagination is the limit.
You're Done!
-----------
Enjoy your new house or store. You may want to write your name and the date on the inside. You can make an
entire village of the houses for play or decoration.
As a Christmas village, you can even cut out windows or doors and put colored cellophane or tissue paper in the
windows (attach from the back/inside). You can tape some small Christmas lights onto a cardboard, covering
with a blanket of fiberfill 'snow' (available from sewing stores), and put a building or cone tree over the lights.
There are cone tree patterns available at Aunt Annie's Crafts Page.
This project can be freely reproduced for all non-profit use.
