Flat People – Homemade Paper Doll Family

Flat People Dolls are kind of like paper dolls but they’re made from a cereal box and a toilet paper roll. You can make a whole family of homemade dolls for your kids to play with for zero cost.
Remember the simple joy of playing with paper dolls when you were a child? Well, you can provide your kids with a set of their own by making a set of flat people with a few simple household items.

To make your flat people, you’ll need:

- Thin cardboard or sturdy card stock
- a couple of toilet paper or paper towel tubes
- fine point marker
- scissors
I used a light weight cardboard box for my flat people, and one paper towel roll was enough for me to make the bases for all of the dolls that I made on this day.
Cut a hmmmm….what shape is that? I’m not sure, but see the shape in the next photo? Cut out one of first out of a scrap piece of cardboard or paper, to serve as a template for your people.


Now cut out as many pieces as you will need for your family of flat people. I cut some of my pieces shorter than the others. Those will become the baby and the pets.
Now draw your family members on those pieces. They don’t have to be fancy. Simple is best in my books. Add in a few small animals for fun.
To make the base for each flat person, slice a piece off your cardboard tube, and make two cuts opposite each other on the top side of the base.


Now, slip your paper doll into those cuts.


Awwww. How cute are then? And how easy was that?


You can leave your flat people as is, or have your child paint or colour them.
Here’s a set that we coloured a few years ago.


So far I’ve left this year’s set as is, but on a rainy day, when we’re looking for something to do, I’ll have the hooligans jazz ’em up.
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Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.




