Paper City Paris!

August 21, 2011
In, , ,
Tag, ,
258 comments

Voilà, Paper City Paris! I’ve been working on this for a very long time now and had so much fun creating it. My kids have been watching me draw and sketch for two months, and they’re now huge fans of the city. They kept asking me, “When are the buildings going to stand up, Daddy?” And now every time they see a radio tower while driving in the car, they yell, “I see the Eiffel Tower!” (I think they’ll be quite impressed when they see the real thing in person someday.)

We’ve been having a great time creating Paris adventure stories together and acting them out. Driving the Citroën car through the Arc de Triomphe, buying candy at the Confiserie, and standing at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

If you’re in the mood to explore Paris, all of the templates are below. I’ve also included a very brief description of the buildings, which is both fun and educational. And feel free to upload photos of your Paris city on the Made by Joel Facebook Page. Amusez-vous bien!

Update: You can also download the new miniature Travel Size Paper City Paris!





If you enjoy an activity and would like to support my continuing effort in creating art projects for our kids at home and in schools around the world, a PayPal tip donation would be awesome.

Thanks!

Click on the templates below, then print.

For more Paper City Printout Toys, click here!

258 Responses
  5. Marleen

    Hi Joel,

    I like, and have used, your PaperParis two times now. And when somebody asked me to tell and draw something about my own village, I’ve used your concept. It was fun to make it! My lines ain’t straight at all, but the scrapping result was very nice.

    Keep up your good work, I’m looking forward!

    Greetings, Marleen

    The drawing can be seen on Scribd, http://www.scribd.com/doc/69894520/Kijkdoos-HEeze

  6. Mason

    Wow! By far my favorite post! I printed them off and used them as decorations for my office space where I work at school. Now I use them as dorm room decorations. They always get commented on. =D

  11. Amanda Farrell

    Your Paper Cities are awesome! I work at a Head Start is Missouri and I’m always looking for cheap toys for my class. Your Paper Cities will let teh children’s imagination rum wild! Thanks and looking forward to a city or landscape!

  15. Heidi

    This might be one of the best sites I have ever found! Seriously! Going to tell everyone about it. Amazing! Bringing back imaginative play is so important.
    Sitting cutting out paper cities for my daughter right now.

  17. Frau W.

    Hello Joel, I found your site in summer and are a constant reader ever since. I love how you transform your creativity in projects with and for your kids – I’m inspired ;).
    For my moms birthday I created a card with your great paper city paris and took a big bunch of your coloring sheets an paper citys to our birthday vacation – everybody loved it!
    If you want to take a look at the card:
    frauwirbelwind.blogspot.com/2011/11/creadienstag-2-papier.html
    http://frauwirbelwind.blogspot.com/2011/11/paper-city-paris-meets-klappkarte.html
    Greetings from Germany!

  19. Jen

    Thanks so much for these! My little guy is going to LOVE them in his stocking this Christmas and my wallet will love them too :-) I think I’ll print a set for my graphic designer/photographer sister too! LOL She *might* even enjoy them more than my 4-yr old!!

  22. Ken

    Absolutely awesome! Reminds me a bit of the Madeline book: entertaining and educational. How about a small map on each page showing where the item is in the city?

    Keep up the great work!

  37. Luca Smit

    Hi Joel,
    I LOVE your Paris stand ups, can you do them in a really large format, say 1.5 – 2m tall?
    I’d be interested in getting hold of them if you can. If so, how much would you charge? I would need them for next Wednesday…
    Hope to hear from you,
    Many thanks,
    Luca

  39. Tammy

    We just printed, cut out and have set up Paris in our house. My kids (5,7) are “in Paris” right now. Thank you so much for providing these templates! Wonderful!

  41. Amz

    Thank you SO much. This is going to make a great party game for my sisters bridal shower. Your work is truly a credit :) thank you.

  43. Ashlee Farris

    Thank you for these — they are adorable! I was lucky enough to travel with my daughter’s Girl Scout troop to London and Paris this past summer, and I visited many of the landmarks you feature here! I am also a Girl Scout leader for 6 and 7 year old girls, and we are talking about France for our yearly multi-cultural festival called “Thinking Day”. I will give my girls copies of these to color! :)

    Ashlee

  47. Barb Hayes

    You are a kindred spirit! I was so inspired by your travel-sized Paris that during our one and only snowstorm I made a travel-size Seattle. I’d love to show you but can’t figure out how to copy to this reply….:)

  50. Breanne Smith

    Thank you so muck for sharing your creativity with the world. And also for all these awesome printables!! I love art and using my imagination and I absolutely love doing these kinds of things with my two little monsters (boys, ages 6 and 4). Keep up the amazing work. I will be getting your book soon!

  54. David Domincki

    Oh my goodness! an incredible article dude. Thanks Nonetheless I am experiencing problem with ur rss . Don’t know why Unable to subscribe to it. Is there anybody getting an identical rss drawback? Anybody who knows kindly respond. Thnkx

    1. Joel

      Hey David. Sorry you’re having trouble. It’s probably my fault. I’m getting a new web design soon, so that should definitely fix any RSS issues.

      Thanks for the kind words!
      Joel

  55. C. P.

    THANK YOU! This is so incredibly perfect. We are heading out in 2 days to Paris & London with the kiddos, and although I’ve packed a trillion new fun things to entertain them on the plane, I am MOST excited about this (travel size version). Now if only you had more cities… London… NYC… Seattle… ;)

  60. YAY!

    I have kept my eye on these for so long…now we are finally studying France! I am looking forward to incorporating fun play into learning! Thanks so much.

  61. Tineke Groen

    Lovely little pieces of art, great for my daughter to play with these paper pieces for a change and it’s not expensive either. Thanks.

  62. Meg

    I just found this on Pinterest and love it! Thank you! I’m actually thinking about making blocks and mod podging these printouts onto the wood to make them a little more durable. Maybe I will give these to my baby sister for a Christmas present :-)

  66. Stephanie

    Hi Joel!
    I just found out about your blog yesterday as I was looking for ideas for my oldest daughter’s 6th birthday party, which will be a Paris-themed party. I printed your Paris Paper city, which is absolutly amazing! I reinforced it with light cardboard and it will decorate the table at the party. I might print the travel size one and put it in the lootbags as well. It’s beautiful! Thank you so much for making it available to all! It’s very generous!

    1. Joel

      Hey Stephanie, you’re welcome! Hope you have a great party! I like the idea of reinforcing the paper. Good thinking on the mini Paris too!

      Glad you found my site.
      Joel

  69. Denise Jerge

    Hi Joel.. my daughter is going to be 5 Jan 29th… she loves paper dolls. I just today discovered your site and your fabulous paper toys.. cant wait til she wakes up so we can play with them… of course Im just a big kid too!!! thank you so much for sharing your creations
    with us. Denise Ellas mommy

  72. Emma Smith

    Fabulous printouts! I printed the eiffel tower and the Notre Dame but have been unsuccessfull with getting them to stand properly. Any hints/instructions?

    1. Joel

      Hi Emma. Yes, make sure you follow the lines on the template at the bottom of the buildings – They kind of slant upwards. (Hard to see it on Notre Dame especially.) That slant will make the buildings lean back a little so they stay up better. If they’re still falling forward, then cut the slant a tiny bit more, to make them lean back a bit more.

      Hope that helps!
      Joel

  79. Christian R.

    Hi! My friend is going to Hawaii and I wanted to give her a Hawaii paper city because she loved the Paris one! I was wondering if you could make one of the full sized one? Your paper cities are amazing! i love them! keep adding more! Thanks!

    1. Joel

      Thanks! I wish I had time to make a Hawaiian scene, but I’ve got too many other projects I need to finish first. Hopefully someday though!

  91. Kirsten

    Thank you so very much for these wonderful cut-outs! They are just the thing I was looking for to decorate the tables at our retirement residence for our Afternoon in Paris Tea.

  94. AURELIEN

    Hello Joel, It’s so wonderful. I’m a french amateur singer and I write a song about PARIS. I would like to know If I could use your “Paper City Paris” to make my own video-clip. I would like to use it to create a setting. (I shall specify the name of your blog at the end of the clip)
    Are you agree ?
    It will be great. Thanks.

    1. Joel

      Hi, yes you can use the Paper City Paris for your video. Sounds fantastic! Send me a link when it’s done. I’d love to see it!

  95. Jennifer

    Hi Joel,
    I am an elementary music teacher and have used your Paper City on Paris when introducing my students to French composers and music. I just saw your Paper City on the Sydney Opera House and I cannot wait to use this in a lesson! Paper Cities from around the world are such a great addition to music instruction. Thanks again for making them free to print and download. I hope you make more cities in the future!

    1. Joel

      Thanks Jennifer! Glad you found my site! And yes, I’m definitely planning on making a lot more cities in the future!

  97. Zosia

    Thank you so very much for the fantastic “Paris templates”. Couple of my friends have been to France so I will be utilising these great templates.