Paper Circus Rider Toy

February 25, 2012
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52 comments

I thought of this little circus unicycle rider awhile back. It’s easy to make, but requires pretty good motor control to wheel around, which is great for kids. If you want to try it out, watch the one minute video to see how to make them. There’s also a template below, but I encourage you and your kids to try drawing your own figures as well – circus bear, monsters, bat man….? Have fun!

Template: Click on the image below, then print.

UPDATE: Someone noticed that the template above was better for left-handers. Whoops! Below is a right-hand version.

52 Responses
  4. tifleur

    Génial! Très simple à réaliser mais super sympa à faire avec les enfants! Merci.

    Awesome! Very easy to make and funny for children! Thanks (and excuse my poor english, please ^^)

  6. kate

    Geez, thanks again for the great projects that you so generously share! I am an elementary school librarian & we often make your projects in library class. There is always a connection!

  8. Pete

    Joel, these are some next level, paper clip toys. Love them! We’re still rocking on the paper clip standup toys you did a while back. We’ve adapted them into hooks as well so that humpty can sit (and fall) on the wall of a shoebox. Will have to give these a go on the weekend. Thanks.

  12. cassandra

    i am doing art outreach with my son’s kindergarten class next week. we are learning all about circus art and this will be the perfect project for them to do after we study the prints! thank you!!!!

  18. Amber

    this is beyond cute! LOVE! have all the supplies and will make sure to pull this project out of my back pocket the next rainy day my 5 year old and I are stuck inside! Thank you :)

    1. Joel

      Hi, thanks Ali. Do you have a Pinterest account? If not, you’ll need to get one. (It’s free.) Then when you get signed up, they tell you how to pin things. I use the little bookmarklet thing, so I just click that and it shows all of the photos on the page, then you select the one you want to pin.

  22. Circus rider toy | El tornillo que te falta

    […] Para seguir amenizando el domingo, os enseño este otro vídeo que muestra que con imaginación y creatividad se pueden hacer cosas geniales. No hace falta saber dibujar de maravilla ni ser un as en cuestiones de manualidades… y si no mirad qué cosas tan brillantes se pueden hacer con las cosas que tenemos por casa. Es un vídeo de Joel, de Made by Joel. […]

  28. thuy-lan

    I love your circus toys. It will be a little present for by boys today. I just realise that the template is made for left-handed, hi hi. Thanks for your so nice website and book. Thuy-Lan (Paris)

  31. Christina Yap

    Hi Joel,
    Really love your site. I tried making this rider and realized that I have problem with making the figurine to stand upright. I finally figured out that I can simply use a blu-tack between the figurine and the paper clip. Just want to share my experience if any of you have the same problem. :)

  32. jean morris

    Hello,
    Just this morning I came across an article which referred to Alexander Calder’s circus movie. I found it on youtube and thought it would be great to try to replicate some of the puppets and animals and went to your blog for inspiration and found the unicyclist and catapult. I thought perhaps you might have a look at the movie and use it as inspiration to recreate some of the characters and animals with your amazing creativity. Thank you by the way for your blog which has really been an inspiration. Best, Jean

  33. maini

    so gonna bookmark this!love ur art a lottt..anyway,i’m frm malaysia..greetings from this side of the globe :))

  36. Angelina

    I just cannot tell you enough how much I adore EVERYTHING you make! Just LOVE it all! I pinned like crazy! Wow! Thanks SO much! The kids will have so much fun with all this amazing stuff–and just in time for summer, too! Lucky us!