by Jean C. Fisher

Created on: December 11, 2010   Last Updated: December 12, 2010

As a kid, I was always fascinated by what they used to call "punch-out" or "punch-out and assemble" books.

For the most part, punch-out books contained heavy card-stock pages printed with all the components necessary to construct paper dolls and their outfits or 3-D models of objects, structures or scenes - many taken from popular children's fictional literature or movies of the time. Each component was perforated around the edges by die-punch for ease of removal and subsequent assembly.

As many a youngster who has assembled a model of a race car or battleship can tell you, this type of activity can also be a valuable educational tool in learning the basics of design, construction, engineering and/or architecture because it emphasizes the ability to conceptionalize three-dimensional objects made from (what are essentially) two-dimensional materials.

I eventually grew up but I never outgrew my fascination for 3-dimensional objects made from flat pieces of paper and, after having children of my own, I delighted in "re-discovering" this enjoyable and educational hobby. So, after becoming acquainted with the many offerings of the World Wide Web, I set out to find possible sources of projects that could be downloaded for free, printed out on my own printer, cut out and then assembled.

In fact, I found that there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of such projects available on the Web, ranging in skill-sets from the extremely complex to the decidedly simple and associated with a wide variety of subject-matter. If your interests include:
 
* Transportation (trains, cars, motorcycles, boats and airplanes)
* Landmarks, monuments or structures
* Animals
* Motion toys (crank-powered, balancing, etc.)
* Educational accessories (sundials, globes, star-charts, anatomy aids, etc.)
* Costuming (masks and/or costume accessories)
* Region/religion-specific or Anthropological objects
* Whimsical objects and creatures (fairytale castles, dragons/other monsters, etc.)
- or -
* Publishing/stationery (greeting cards, small books, personalized notepads, party/event/holiday accessories, etc.)

You'll be happy to know that a great many wonderful projects can be had for the price of just some blank card stock and printer ink!

Below, with brief descriptions of the offerings of each site, you'll find a list of some of my favorite websites containing free, downloadable "print, cut and assemble" projects - enjoy!        

Yamaha

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