Instructions to Make a House Out of Poster Board

Make a simple square house with a peaked roof, front door and two shuttered side windows. Think of this poster board craft as a jumping-off point to making your own architectural designs. Change the wall dimensions; change the size, pitch or placement of the roof; or change the number, size and placement of the windows and doors–the variety of houses you can make is practically endless.

Use a ruler to measure 11 inches from the long edge of a poster board, and mark small pencil dots at three or four points. Place a yardstick along the dots, and draw a long center line. Cut the line with scissors, making two 11-inch x 28-inch sections. Reserve one section for the roof.

Use the yardstick to mark small dots near the long bottom edge of the poster board at 7 inches, 14 inches and 21 inches from the left edge. Move the yardstick up near the top edge and repeat the markings. Connect the dots from top to bottom, making three vertical lines and creating four 7-inch x 11-inch sections. Number the sections from one to four, left to right.

Place the poster board on a cutting board, and score the vertical lines with the dull edge of a butter knife pulled down against the metal edge of a ruler.

Mark large pencil dots 4 inches down from the top of the side edges and on the scored vertical lines. Place the yardstick next to the large dots, and draw a long horizontal line through the dots from side to side.

Mark a center point at the top of sections one and three. Angle the ruler from each center point to each nearby large dot, and draw four diagonal lines, forming two triangular roof peaks.

Cut with scissors along the diagonal lines of sections one and three, and along the horizontal lines of sections two and four.

Mark two dots 5 inches from the bottom of section three. Connect the dots in a horizontal line. Mark two dots 2 inches from each side of section three. Connect the dots to make two vertical lines, resulting in a 3-inch x 5-inch door.

Place section three on the cutting board. Use a utility knife to cut the horizontal line at the top of the door and the left vertical line of the door. Score the right vertical line.

Make horizontal lines 2 inches from the top and bottom and vertical lines 2 inches from each side of sections two and four, resulting in a 3-inch by 3-inch window in each section. Mark vertical centers of each window.

Place sections two and four on the cutting board. Use a utility knife to cut horizontal window lines and center vertical window lines. Score the other vertical window lines.

Fold the poster board on the three vertical-scored lines separating sections one to four, forming a square. Tape the open edges of sections one and four together with a 7-inch strip of postal tape. Fold e door and windows to the outside along the scored lines.

Cut a 9-inch x 12-inch section from the reserved poster board to make the house's roof. Mark a center point lengthwise on the poster board section. Place on the cutting board, score, and fold. Set the roof on top of the house.