Meddybemps Miniature Village
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Here are six new pages containing people and vehicles to bring your miniature village to life. Each page is a pdf file displaying people or vehicles that are easy to cut out and simple to fold.

Sets include:
City People (6 Adults and 3 Children)
Park People 1 (2 Moms with Babies, Clown and Girl, Boy and Dog, Man and Birds)
Park People 2 (Slide, Rocket Ride, Family)
More People (3 Pumpkin Pirates, 3 Men, 2 Children)
Vehicles 1 (Taxi and Mail Truck)
Vehicles 2 (School Bus, Scooter, Dump Truck)

About the Miniature Village

Our grandchildren spend countless hours playing with Brio(TM) and Thomas & Friends(TM) wooden trains. And we, like many other parents and grandparents, bought several of the excellent railroad accessory structures that these companies offer. They are sturdy and long-lasting, but they are also expensive. Their cost keeps most of us from purchasing more than just a few.

While researching the history of toymaking, we noticed that paper cutouts have always been a popular and inexpensive way to build toys. So, we thought, why not design some little buildings children could use with their wooden trains? And, since today's ink-jet printers can produce high-quality color prints on sturdy paper, why not create downloadable files so people can print and build their own?

And, of course, why not give them a touch of Jerry's creative magic?


4 buildings 3 buildings Station Photo Group of Village Buildings

So we created the Meddybemps Miniature Village. This cheerful collection features types of buildings and businesses that children will recognize and play with. Details on each structure give parents, siblings and teachers opportunities to casually engage young children in discussions of life in their town. Simple environmental print will help with pre-reading skills. Some buildings will include nursery rhymes. Others will appear in stories on this website.
Click on the photos above to see larger images. Click on the small station photo to see it with the new platform. Our newest buildings, including Haunted Halloween Cottages, Christmas Market Stalls and an engine shed whose doors can be set in an open or closed position, are not pictured.

One of our latest addition appears below. This structure represents Bobby's Busy Bakery, a new drop and drag activity in which children can decorate cakes and arrange samples in the shop window. Pepper's Only Pizza pizzeria is another new building based on an interactive game in which you put toppings on pizzas.






Copyright 2010 Jerry Jindrich. All rights reserved.
. . ... Each building is presented as a pdf file and will print out on one (or sometimes more) 8.5 by 11 inch sheets of paper. Premium heavy weight (68 lb) glossy photo paper is best, but 24 lb plain paper will do and is good for making a practice building or two.


Simply follow outlines to cut the building out, then fold flaps and corners to see how it fits together. Use household tape to hold it together. After a couple of practice buildings, you'll find an assembly method that works best for you. We've prepared a pdf Construction Guide to show you how we assemble them.

Below are the first seventeen structures for you to print and build plus a few little extras. Click on a building to open its pdf file.

Railroad Station
Platform and Signs
Blank Building Pumpkin Stand Alphabet Soup Cafe and Patio
Bakery
Engine Shed Railroad Signal Tower
Fruit Stand
Musical Instrument Store
Ice Cream Stand Candy Factory Video Game Factory
Flower Shop
Bank
Blacksheep's Fashions
Pet Shop


Back to Fun with Trains.

A word of caution: We recommend that you keep ink jet and laser prints out of the hands of infants and very small children. There are no warnings on the ink cartridges we use, but inks and toners are made from a variety of chemicals that may not be good for children to get into their mouths.