Cardboard Baby Doll Stroller

My 2 year old recently broke her baby doll stroller. My older daughter wanted to try and make one to replace it. We originally were going to use dowels as the strollers structure but we found the dowels hard to work with. We switched to 30 inch wrapping paper tubes on the second model and that worked much better.

Supplies

Cardboard box (corrugated)

Soda box cardboard

Two 30 in wrapping paper tubes

One package of small dowels (seen in picture)

Duct tape black and gray

Hot glue gun

Fabric (we used an old dress my 2 year old outgrew)

Utility knife

Measuring tape

Make Posterior Legs of Stroller

- Cut two 15 inch length by 8 inch width rectangles of corrugated cardboard. I divided the width in two inch sections and cut slightly down the length of the cardboard (maybe 1/4 way through). This permitted me to bend it easily in a straight line. I folded the cardboard every 2 inches to make four sides. I folded the sides to make a triangle and used the 4th side to overlap the first. This made a strong triangular shaped tube.

Attach Posterior Legs to Wrapping Paper Tubes

Next attach the 15 inch triangle tube to the 30 inch wrapping paper tube. We placed the point of the triangle tube at 11 1/2 inches and a flat side at 13 1/3 inches on the wrapping paper tube. We cut a half moon shape in the flat side that was resting on the wrapping paper tube. This allowed the posterior leg to hug the circular tube tightly. We used hot glue to secure it and then secured it with duct tape.

Make Seat

Cut an 8 inch width by 14 inch length piece of cardboard. Center a small diameter dowel (3/8 in) with 12 in length at the top and bottom of the cardboard (parallel with the short sided). Glue dowels to cardboard. Use fabric or old clothing to wrap the card board and glue the fabric in place. Bend the bottom portion of the seat about 4 inches to make an L shape. The small part will be the seat and the long part the seat back.

Attach Seat to the Two Sides

Make sure you have the sides of the stroller lined up exactly the same with all four legs on the ground. Place the holes for the dowels of the seat on the inside of both parts of the stroller at 8 1/2 inches and 19 1/2 inches. I used a sharp pencil for the hole and then put duct tape around it and punctured through the same hole with my utility knife. I like using duct tape to reinforce the holes in the cardboard.

Make Wheels

At this point you should have a high chair looking structure.

I used the inside of my duct tape roll to trace my wheel circles. They were about 3 inches in diameter. I made 8 separate wheels and each wheel was 4 pieces of cardboard circles hot glued together. I cut a small circle in the center of each wheel about the size of a dime. I tore duct tape to cover the edges and sides with silver to give it a smooth appearance.

Make Axels

I made axels to go inside the wheels so they would spin on the small dowels I would attach them with. I used the thin cardboard from the soda box to make these. The width was 1 inch by 2 inch. I wrapped them around the dowel to get the right interior diameter and then hot glued it at that size. They should fit snuggly within the small hole in the wheel. Each wheel should have a small cylinder inside to help it spin smoothly on the dowel.

Attach Wheels

I took the small dowel and cut it to 4 in length. I then wrapped the bottom of each leg with duct tape and punctured holes on the inside and outside of each leg 1/2 inch from the bottom. I pushed the dowel through so it was equal on each side of the wrapping tube. I tore a tiny sliver of duct tape and wrapped it close to the tube on either side. That duct tape had to be thick enough that the axel of the wheel wouldn’t slide onto it. The duct tape would act like a washer of sorts or keep the wheel in place. Then slide the wheel on the dowel and place another small piece of duct tape on the outside with thickness enough that the wheel can’t slide off. Do this on both sides of the tubing for each leg of the stroller.

Handle Bars

I rolled some cardboard and then shaped it into the handle bars. I used duct tape to secure the shape and give it form. Then I slid the handlebars into the top of the tubes and secured it with duct tape.

Finishing Touches

I added a small dowel perpendicular to the back legs of the stroller to give it support. We also added fabric for a seat belt and the excess fabric was glued to the arms of the stroller. You can decorate it with paint or we used duct tape and fabric.