Architectural Model Building Dream House

Cardboard or foam board for walls and roof

Ruler and pencil for measuring

Box cutter (adult supervised) or heavy scissors

Glue — white glue or hot glue gun (adult supervised)

Paint and brushes for finishing

Paper and scrap materials for interior details

A cardboard base for the foundation

Start by sketching a floor plan on paper. How many rooms? Where are the doors? Where are the windows? Keep it simple — a house with 3 to 5 rooms is plenty.

Choose a scale. One inch equals one foot is easy to work with and produces a model about 8 to 12 inches wide.

Measure and cut walls from cardboard or foam board. Each wall needs a length and a height matching the floor plan at your chosen scale.

Cut window and door openings in the walls before assembly. Mark them in pencil first, then cut carefully. An adult should handle the box cutter.

Assemble walls by gluing them together at right angles on a cardboard base. Use hot glue for fast, strong joints. Hold each wall until the glue sets.

Create a roof — a simple peaked roof is two pieces of cardboard meeting at a ridge line. Flat roofs are even simpler.

Add details — paint the exterior, wallpaper the interior with patterned paper, make tiny furniture from cardboard scraps, add a garden with painted paper bushes and trees.

Present the model. Have your child explain their design choices — why this room layout, why this many windows, why they chose certain features.

Planning on paper before building saves materials and frustration. The sketch does not need to be perfect but it needs to exist.

Foam board is easier to cut and paint than corrugated cardboard. Available at dollar stores and office supply shops.

This project teaches real architectural thinking — how spaces connect, how light enters through windows, and how doorways create flow.

Extend this over two days. Build the structure day one, paint and detail day two.