Make a Village
     Free software for kids to create a fun and educational arts and crafts project.
Directions to Download, Install, Run and Build
     Make a Village requires a PC running Windows Vista, XP, Me, 98, 95 or 3.1 with an Inkjet, Laser or Dot Matrix printer.  Vista or XP will need a computer administrator user account.  A limited user account cannot install software.

Download Make a Village (312k)

We have an educational activity based on Make a Village:

Go to Make a Village Activity Page

Download Instructions:
     Click on the Download link above.  If your browser offers you the choice of Opening the program or Saving it to Disk you should try Opening it.  If things go right the installation program will run.  If your browser will not open the program then choose the option Save to Disk to save it to your hard disk.  Remember which folder or directory you save it in.

Installing the software on your computer:
     If your browser ran the installation program then Make a Village is already installed and you may skip this portion.  If you saved the installation program, FOLDINS2.EXE, to your hard disk then it needs to be run.

Windows 95:  use Explorer to navigate to the folder where you saved the installation program.  (You can use FIND, FILES OR FOLDERS to locate the installation program if necessary.)   Double click on the installation program to run it.  You will be prompted for a folder to install Make a Village into and a Program Group for the icon to appear in.  The default choices that you are offered in the dialog boxes are recommended.

Windows 3.1:  Use File Manager to navigate to the directory where you saved the installation program.  Double click on the installation program to install Make a Village. You will be prompted for a folder to install Make a Village into and a Program Group for the icon to appear in.  The default choices that you are offered in the dialog boxes are recommended.

Running the Program:
Windows 95:  After the program is installed there will be a folder in START, PROGRAMS with the name chosen in the installation program.  The default name is "Owl & Mouse".  Click on the folder and you will see Make a Village.  Click Make a Village to run the program.

Windows 3.1:  After the program is installed there will be a Program Group in Program Manager with the name chosen in the installation program.  The default name is "Owl & Mouse".  There will be an icon in the program group for Make a Village.  Double click on the icon to run the program.

     When you run the program you will see a list of buildings you can print.  Click on one and click the print button.  You will see a dialog box that allows you to select your printer and the number of copies.  When you click OK the building will print.

Making the Village:
     To make paper houses and create your own village of houses, print out the house patterns and roofs. (The roof pattern has two roofs, so you only need one copy of it for every two houses).
     Color the houses. It is best to turn the pattern so that the wall of the house you are coloring is "right way up". Add curtains, houseplants, doorknobs and doorbells, a cat in the window, a goldfish bowl, flowers, in the windows; shutters, holiday decorations bushes, ivy or trees to the outside. The church can have stained glass (colored in, or put in cellophane). You could even have a tricycle or lawnmower outside the houses. The Swedish house is traditionally red with white trim. A thatched roof is usually brown, with bits of green and tan. But you don’t have to stick to any of these things.
     Cut out the houses, apartment house and church along the outside heavy lines.
    Fold on all of the lines. When you are looking at the colored sheet of paper, all of the folds go away from you. They are all 90 degree folds (like turning a corner). First glue or tape the flat roof to the sides of the house, then fasten the back of the house to the sides. Then the roof goes on top. The adobe house has a flat roof, and does not need a separate roof piece. The Swedish house and the thatched house both have roofs that fold down to make an eave. Fold the steeple and fasten the tab inside to make a hollow square. The steeple goes on the roof, toward the front, and gets its own little roof. The stone or brick chimneys get folded the same way as the steeple.
     The bottom of the apartment house has two strips of paper, front and back, that should be colored as decoration. The top piece of the apartment house sits inside these pieces on the bottom half, and they hold it in (fasten it to them). Several copies of the apartment house can be joined together to make a large apartment house.

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