Diverse Paper Dolls

Select a free printable paper doll that looks like you, from a new big pack of diverse paper dolls! You can also colour your very own.

When reading books, watching cartoons, and playing with toys, children naturally gravitate towards characters they can relate to.

When I was a kid, watching cartoons, I sure lamented the fact that Duck Tales only had one female character, as opposed to five male ones. The same went for my other favourite shows – Ninja Turtles and Ghost-busters. I really wanted more females in there!

So I think it is important to offer a wide representation of characters, boys and girls of all ethnicities, in literature and cinema.

Now, our paper dolls still cannot claim to be comprehensively representative, but, from the beginning, we have tried to create a selection of diverse characters. At first, we made four base dolls, as well as four colour-your-own bases. This is how they looked.

It was fun making them, and ever since I have wanted to make more! I was thinking of different hairstyles, hair colours, eye colours, and glasses. I used to be a girl wearing glasses, so I would have liked a paper doll like that, considering that they’re difficult accessory to attach separately.

Inside the Diverse Paper Dolls Pack

This pack brings you twenty dolls bases, as well as twenty colour-your-own ones.

As always, the doll bases can be paired with all of our paper doll costumes. Most of the clothes that are pictured in this post are from the winter, summer and spring/autumn free clothes sets, so you can download them, as well. It would also pair well with the set featuring school uniforms around the world. I’m also in the process of making a big set of traditional costumes from around the world, so check back for that.

There are ten girls in the pack. My two I enjoyed drawing the most are the ones in the middle top row. Those two hairstyles with braids and little buns were fun to create. I couldn’t make any long hairstyles because they would interfere with the costumes, but mermaids and famous women sets have some additional hairstyles that can be attached on top of the existing ones.

There are also ten boys.

What other representations would you like to see in future updates for this set?

Also Try These Paper Dolls!

Amazing Women in History Paper Dolls

Using these paper dolls, dedicated to social history and women’s history, children will learn about twenty amazing heroines who changed the world! Featuring Frida Kahlo, Marie Curie, Florence Nightingale, and many more.

Anatomy Paper Dolls

Study the human body anatomy with kids by making a set of printable anatomy paper dolls, with each layer showcasing a different body system!

Black History Paper Dolls

Celebrate Black history while making a set of printable dress-up and magnetic paper dolls of fifteen inspiring people who changed the world!

School Uniforms Around the World

Explore cultural diversity with kids by getting the paper dolls ready for school and dressing them up in a variety of school uniforms around the world!

Christmas Around the World Paper Dolls

Learn about Christmas traditions around the world with fourteen gift-bringing characters from different cultures! From the famed Santa Claus to the mysterious Olentzero, from the sweet Christkind to the horrifying Krampus—the world is full of interesting and unique traditions, associated with the season.