Paper Toys and Kidlet Fun

I have a thing for paper toys.  What is a paper toy? Anything printed that can be cut out, assembled or otherwise manipulated to create a plaything.  Paper dolls - love them!  Paper planes -  classic!  There are lots of stuff other than paper dolls and plane out there.  One of my favorite Etsy shops has doll houses you can print, cutout and play with.

Mushroom Cottage Dollhouse

For $4.00 you can download and print this loveliness.  The fun is in making it as well as playing with it. Paper dolls are part of this category and I'm the proud owner of some but that is another blog post.

Made by Joel is a blog of a Portland artist that makes simple toys, many of paper that are tested on his own twins.  My favorite is his Tumble Bunny.  This is a variation of an age old toy and you can download for free the template.

From Made by Joel

Another favorite artist that does much more elaborate folded paper toys is Marilyn Scott-Walters.  Her website, The Toymaker , has some free downloads and some books that I covet.  Check out her marble mouse for free.

Marble racing mouse by The Toymaker

In anticipation of kid time in AZ I got some paper toy goodies for play.  One of my favorite artists, Sarah Jane Studios had a download for a paper theater and puppets for Peter and The Wolf. 

I printed out two sets (still one price) and then laminated them at my local bookstore for only a dollar.  I assembled them all but the sticks (bamboo kabob skewers with their points cut off) and bagged the whole thing.  I ordered a CD of Peter and the Wolf so we were set!  I loved this when I was in grade school and I think schools rarely use this anymore. (I'll repress a rant). 

This was a hit with the seven year old.  Our four year old listened and played with the puppets for a while but lost interest.  Seven year old got it out on her own later and played with it on Sunday evening.  Her Mom thought it was a wonderful Sunday activity.  The littles Mom took their copy home to use later.  Yeah!