Acorn Peg Doll Crafts: Handmade DIY Toys for Kids

These cute little acorn peg dolls are easy DIY toys for kids.

Here’s an acorn craft made with acorn caps, wooden peg dolls, and a touch of watercolor paint. These cute little acorn peg dolls make unique DIY wooden toys and homemade gift ideas for children. You might also like THIS set of wooden peg dolls painted in a rainbow of colors.

Children also enjoy making their own DIY peg doll crafts for pretend or imaginative dramatic play. And, if you have children with an autumn birthday, they make great homemade party favors! You might also enjoy using acorn caps to make DIY Acorn Marble Necklaces. 

DIY Acorn Peg Dolls Homemade Wooden Toy for Kids

DIY Acorn Peg Dolls are an easy acorn craft and homemade gift idea for kids. These cute little handmade toy dolls are perfect for pretend or imaginative dramatic play, and acorn peg dolls also make great gifts and favors.

Homemade peg dolls with acorn caps also make cute rustic DIY autumn home decor–display them on mantles, window sills, fairy gardens, and fall nature tables. You might also enjoy this list of fall nature crafts for kids and adults.

Acorn Peg Doll Wooden Toy Craft Materials

• Acorn caps  – Go on a nature hunt for acorn caps, or click the link to purchase.
• Wooden peg dolls – This package contains more wooden peg dolls than you need for this project. Use the remainders to make other peg doll crafts. We list several more homemade peg doll project ideas at the bottom of this post that you can try.
• Try brown liquid watercolor paint or use a mixture of raw umber and yellow ochre watercolor paint straight out of the tubes for rich, concentrated color as we did. However, any color and type of watercolor paint will work–you can even use food coloring!
• Paintbrushes
• Glue gun with glue sticks
• Extra fine tip paint pens or incredible nib

DIY Acorn Peg Dolls Wooden Toy Step-by-Step Directions

Before starting this wooden DIY toy project, please read the step-by-step instructions below. Scroll down to see a list of more DIY wooden peg doll project ideas.

Step 1 – Paint the wooden peg doll bodies

• There are a few ways to paint wooden peg doll bodies into acorn peg dolls.
  • Before liquid watercolors existed, I used watercolor paint straight out of the tube to paint wooden peg dolls to get a rich, concentrated color. I layered the watercolors by painting the yellow ochre first (Valley Oak acorns are yellowish-brown where we live), followed by raw umber when the paint was still wet.
  • Another super easy option is to use brown liquid watercolor paint. Use a paintbrush, or fill a 4 oz canning jar with brown liquid watercolor paint and dip the bodies of the wooden peg dolls into the liquid watercolor solution to paint them!
• Do not paint the heads. Instead, allow wooden peg dolls to dry before moving on to the next step.

Step 2 – Glue the acorn caps onto the wooden peg dolls

• Use a glue gun with glue sticks or craft glue to adhere the acorn caps onto the heads of the wooden peg dolls to make this acorn craft.
• Please remember that glue guns are hot and dangerous tools, use strong multi-purpose craft glue if you are making these acorn crafts with young children.
• Place a drop of glue inside each acorn cap and then quickly put the acorn cap onto the wooden peg doll’s head to secure it.
• Press gently on the acorn cap to ensure it is attached to the wooden peg doll.

Step 3 – Paint the faces onto the acorn peg doll craft

• Use a paint pen or dip an incredible nib into the paint color of your choice to dot a simple face onto each wooden peg doll craft.
• Check out our rainbow peg dolls DIY project tutorial for more detailed instructions.

Related: The Best Building Blocks for Kids

Acorn Peg Doll Wooden DIY Toy for Kids and Rustic DIY Home Decor

DIY acorn peg dolls are a fun acorn craft and gift idea for kids. Or, invite children to use this wooden peg doll craft tutorial to make handmade toys for pretend or imaginative play.

Acorn peg dolls also make unique rustic DIY home decor. Little acorn people look super cute when displayed on mantles, window sills, nature tables, and fairy gardens.

For more amazing craft ideas, look at this list of fall nature crafts, or scroll down to see a list of wooden peg doll crafts for kids.

More Peg Doll Crafts to Make with Wooden Peg Dolls

When you purchase the recommended wooden peg dolls to make this acorn craft, you will have enough left to make a few more wooden DIY toys. Once you finish this fun acorn craft for kids, try the DIY peg doll project ideas on the list below!

• DIY Rainbow Peg Dolls
• Monarch Butterfly Peg Dolls
• Peg Doll Boat Craft
• Fall fairy Peg Dolls
• Winter fairy Peg Dolls
• Elf Peg Doll Ornaments
• Angel Peg Doll Ornament
• Easy Wooden Peg Doll Nativity Scene

If you Liked This Acorn Craft, You May Also Like

• Acorn Marble Necklace Nature Craft
• DIY Rustic Acorn Marble Ornaments
• Nature Crafts and Nature Art Activities that use Natural Materials
• Fall Bucket List of Fun Autumn Activities