Adorable Gnome Peg Dolls Craft for Kids

These gnome peg dolls are simple and easy to make using scraps of fabric, felt, and some paint. They’re an adorable addition to any pretend play or imaginative play busy bag or box.

You can opt to make them yourself or as a supervised craft with little ones because I used hot glue while she was creating next to me. Keep reading for some additional ideas to make an entire play set using scraps of felt.

Horizontal image showing a close up of three completed gnome peg dolls on wood table in front of a pine tree.
Let the kids make these fun gnome peg dolls for a garden gnome busy bag, a Spring sensory bin, or just for rainy day play.

Gnome Peg Dolls

Here are Ruffles and Rain Boots, we make a lot of our own pretend play, from dress up to puppets. I saw the raw peg dolls and knew my daughter would love making a woodland gnomes set of her own.

I love the versatility of wooden peg dolls because with just a bit of paint and felt, you can turn a plain peg into so many things. Below, I share some ideas on how we have added to this little play set but would love to hear yours in the comments.

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collage of diy gnomes teaching how to make a gnome with or without legs and with or without sewing

If you want your own set of handmade peg doll gnomes, let’s get started.

RELATED READING: Make This Adorable, Easy DIY Scandinavian Gnome with Braids 

No Time to Make Them Now? Save or Share This for Later

If you need to gather up supplies or pick up some peg dolls, save this to a crafts pin board or share it to Facebook. You will be able to find it easily when you’re ready to begin.

Vertical image of three montessori peg doll gnomes standing on a painted play set base on a wood background.
Make this adorable little gnome family of peg dolls with scraps of fabric and a little paint.

Tips for Making Montessori Gnomes

  • Using a smaller paintbrush will help you get finer details for your gnome, but for young kids, a paint pen might be best.
  • We often drew on details using the end of the paintbrush because the peg dolls are small.
  • Urge the kids to make each one unique and give them funny faces. My daughter even made one with an angry face.
  • Scraps of felt or fabric are perfect for kid crafts like these peg dolls. Be sure to let them have the run of the scrap bin.
  • If you have some extra felt, let the kids create a play scene. Some ideas are simple felt trees (triangles), mountains (triangles), and small animals and extras like butterflies, fish, and birds.

How to Make Gnome Peg Dolls 

These quick and easy directions make it super simple to follow along, so if you want to prop this open for the little ones or print it out, you can. If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments below. 

Yield: 1 set of Montessori gnomes

Gnome Peg Dolls

close up of gnome peg doll family

Use scraps to make these adorable Montessori gnome peg dolls, perfect for busy bags, sensory bins, and pretend play.

Prep Time 5 minutes
Active Time 10 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Difficulty Easy
Estimated Cost $5

Materials

  • Wooden peg dolls
  • Craft paint
  • Craft felt and flannel
  • Optional- wood disk or large wood slice for a play base.

Tools

  • Small paint brushes
  • Glue or Supervised Hot glue gun and glue sticks

Instructions

  1. Paint the main body color (the clothes). This will help you add the details neater and much easier. We just used a few simple colors for ours. supplies need for this peg doll craft
  2. It is optional, but you can paint the head. As most of it was covered and the wood was a nice flesh color, we left it as is. showing off the painted outfits of the gnome peg doll on white table
  3. Once the base paint has dried, add details to the clothing like polka dots, stripes, aprons, etc. Use the small end of a paintbrush to paint details. For buttons, polka dots, and even suspenders, we used the end of the brush dipped just lightly in paint and “drew” them on rather than brushed. painting the outfit on the gnome peg doll with paintbrush
  4. When all the paint is dry, use the wooden peg as a reference to cut white felt into a beard shape of the right size and for their hats. We just wrapped it around the hat and glued it. Secure beard in place.
  5. Cut the hat fabric into a triangle and slightly round each corner. Roll fabric into a cone shape and hot glue securely. Run a bead of glue all around the inside of the hat and slip over the head. Mix and match paint colors for clothes and fabrics to give each a unique personality. another option of fabric for creating the peg doll craft hat
  6. Paint one side of the wooden disk/wood slice with green and blue for grass and water, let dry. Flip it over and paint white for snow. This rounds out your little play set and gives the gnomes a fun place to hang out. painting the base plate for your peg doll craft to have grass to stand on

Notes

For more fun crafts for kids, visit Ruffles and Rain Boots.

Did you make this?

Please leave a comment or share a photo and tag me @rufflesandrain

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Vertical image close up of three Montessori gnome peg dolls made with paint, felt, and fabric scraps on a wood table.

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