Paper Doll Template Printable

Make a dress-up paper doll in minutes. Pick a skin tone, hair colour and hairstyle, choose dresses and colours for the wardrobe, add patterns, and print a page with the doll, a fold-back stand and clothes with fold tabs ready to colour, cut and play.

How to make your paper doll

1. Choose the doll’s skin tone, hair colour and hairstyle — or pick “Blank” to colour it in yourself.
2. Tick up to four dresses for the wardrobe and pick a colour for each with the colour swatch.
3. Add a pattern: polka dots, stripes or hearts.
4. For a colouring activity, tick “Black-and-white outlines”.
5. Click Print. Landscape orientation fits the doll and four outfits on one page.
6. Cut out the doll and the clothes along the solid lines, leaving the dashed tabs attached to the clothes.

Fold the tabs behind the doll’s shoulders and waist to hold the clothes in place, and fold the base back so the doll stands up.

Tips for sturdy paper dolls

• Print on card stock (160–250 gsm or 65–110 lb) for the doll so it stands and survives lots of play; clothes work fine on normal paper.
• Glue the doll onto a cereal box panel for extra strength.
• Laminate the doll or cover it with clear tape so it lasts.
• Cut around the tabs carefully — they are the part most likely to tear.
• Store outfits in an envelope or a small zip bag with the doll.
• Rounded scissors are easier and safer for small children; adults can pre-cut tricky parts.

Why paper dolls are still a great activity

Paper dolls combine several skills in one screen-free activity. Cutting practises fine motor control and hand–eye coordination; colouring and pattern design encourage creativity; dressing the doll and inventing stories builds language and imaginative play. Children can design outfits for different occasions, weather or jobs, which opens conversations about seasons, careers and cultures. Paper dolls also travel well — a folder of dolls and clothes is a quiet activity for journeys, waiting rooms and rainy afternoons.

Dress styles in the maker

These are real fashion silhouettes, so older children can learn a little fashion vocabulary while they play.

Design challenges for kids

• Design an outfit for a party, a rainy day and a trip to the beach.
• Make a uniform for a job: doctor, chef, astronaut or firefighter.
• Design a dress inspired by your favourite animal or food.
• Draw clothes from a country you are learning about.
• Make a matching outfit for yourself and the doll.
• Create a fashion show and describe each design to the family.

For classrooms and parties

Paper dolls work well as a craft station at birthday parties, in art lessons and in after-school clubs. For a group, print the black-and-white version so each child colours their own. In classrooms, paper dolls can support lessons on clothing through history, textiles, or describing words in language learning (“a long red dress with white spots”). Teachers can print one doll per child and a shared box of clothes.

Worked example

For a rainy-afternoon craft, a parent chooses a medium skin tone, brown long hair, and three dresses — an A-line in red, a sheath in blue and a fit-and-flare in green — with polka dots. They print on 200 gsm card in landscape, and the children cut out the doll and dresses. The tabs fold behind the doll’s shoulders and waist, and the stand folds back so the doll can take part in a “fashion show” on the table. A second print in black-and-white lets each child colour and pattern extra outfits.

Paper doll history in brief

Paper dolls have been popular for centuries. In the nineteenth century, printed paper dolls with changeable costumes were sold as toys and fashion illustrations, and in the twentieth century magazines and newspapers regularly printed dolls and outfits for readers to cut out. Many families still keep boxes of paper dolls passed down through generations. Making your own continues that tradition, with the added fun of designing the clothes yourself.

Printing at the right size

The doll is about 7 inches (18 cm) tall when printed in landscape on US Letter or A4, a good size for small hands to dress. If you print at a different scale, print the clothes at the same scale so they fit. In the print dialog, choose “Background graphics” or “Print backgrounds” to include the colours and patterns.

Privacy

The paper doll is drawn in your browser. Nothing is uploaded or saved, and no account is needed.