DIY Little Red Riding Hood Peg Dolls

This Little Red Riding Hood set of peg dolls was so fun to make, and while I am pretty crafty, I am by no means an artist. Keeping their features and clothes simple makes this a doable project for any skill level. I love toys for children that are at least somewhat open ended. Even though the characters are special to a particular story the simplicity of their faces and clothes means that they can be easily imaged in all sorts of situations. Handmade gifts are so rare nowadays that a precious set like this will surely be cherished for years to come. Add a copy of Little Red Riding Hood to these to make a wonderful and memorable gift set.

Supplies Needed:

4 unfinished wood peg dolls
Acrylic paint
Variety of paint brushes
Felt-green, grey, red, blue

Paint 3 of your peg forms skin color and the fourth grey. Allow to dry for at least an hour. Add details such as clothes. For the woodsman, I painted on a shirt, pants, and overalls using a small brush. Red riding hood got a red dress with a white apron, and granny a polka dotted nightgown. Finally, for the the wolf, I smeared a bit of black and lighter grey onto the grey base of his body to make it look like ruffled fur and painted on ferocious teeth with a tiny detail brush. To make details like eyes, buttons, lips, and dots I used the opposite end of the paintbrush- it really gives you better control. Just dip the very tip into your desired paint color and gently dab onto the desired area.

Once all the details are dry you can add a bit of felt to soften your characters and finish up their costumes. For Red’s cape I cut a piece of red felt 2″ tall x 4″ long. Wrap it around her head like a hood, so that it is tight enough to not fall off, but loose enough to remove, secure with hot glue. For the wolf cut a 1 1/2″ by 3″ piece of blue felt, again wrap tight enough to stay on and loos enough for little hands to remove, hot glue only the top half so that you can slip it over his head an have an opening for his tail – now he is ready to pretend to be grandma.

If desired, add some polka dots to match. Cut small triangles of grey, fold corners inward, and use hot glue to secure to the top of the wolfs head.

Here are all the characters are ready to perform: Red Riding Hood, the Big Bad Wolf, Grandma, and the Woodsman. Each one is simple but decorated enough so that each role is obvious to anyone who is familiar with the classic story.

As soon as the paint was dry, this set was put to work by little hands, played with for hours, and I am already planning more story book character collections to create for her.