Paper Crown Maker

How to make a paper crown that fits

1. Measure the head with a soft tape (or a piece of string and a ruler) round the forehead, about 1 cm above the eyebrows and just above the ears, where the crown will sit. No tape to hand? Pick the age instead and the page uses a typical size and says so.
2. Type the name and the age, pick a design and whether it prints in colour or as outlines to colour in. For a party or a class, put one name per line; a child you have measured gets their own size after a bar, like Ava | 49.
3. Print the PDF at 100% (“Actual size”, never “Fit to page”, which shrinks the band by a few centimetres). Card of 160–200 g/m² (60–80 lb cover) keeps the points standing up; ordinary printer paper works but flops by the end of the party.
4. Cut on the solid line and glue the pieces: slide the grey tab marked 1 under the end of the next piece that carries the same 1, line its edge up with the dashed line, and glue or tape. Do the same with 2 if your crown has three pieces.
5. Close the ring round the child’s head: the plain end goes over the start of the band up to the dashed OVERLAP line, which leaves the 2 cm of overlap the band was made with. Tape or staple it with the staple’s flat side inwards.

Questions

What size is a paper crown for a child?

A crown has to go round the head, so its band is the head circumference plus an overlap to glue. This page makes the band exactly head + 2 cm. Typical head sizes, from growth-chart medians: about 46 cm at age 1, 48 cm at 2, 49 cm at 3, 50 cm at 4, 51 cm at 5 and 6, 52 cm at 7 and 8, 53 cm at 9 and 10, 54 cm at 11 and 12, 55 cm for teenagers and 57 cm for adults. Real children are often 2 cm either side of these, and thick hair or braids add another centimetre, which is why a measured size is better. The crown is 8.4 cm tall at its highest point, with a 3.2 cm band for the name.

How do I make the crown fit, and what if it is too big or too small?

Measure where the crown will sit and type that number; the page draws a band 2 cm longer than the head. If it comes out loose, overlap the ends more before you tape; up to about 3 cm still looks right because the overlap is at the side or back, on the plain end. If it is tight, check that the PDF was printed at 100%: “Fit to page” can shrink a sheet to around 95%, which takes about 2.5 cm off a 53 cm band. A crown made for a 5-year-old (51 cm) will not close round most adult heads, so print adults their own size: the “Adult” choice uses 57 cm, and a measured adult head up to 66 cm still fits in three pieces.

A4 or US Letter: which paper, and why is my crown in pieces?

A crown band is longer than any home printer’s paper, so it is printed in strips across the long side of the sheet and glued. An A4 sheet is 297 mm long, which leaves about 284 mm inside the 6 mm margins; US Letter is 279 mm, which leaves about 267 mm. So on A4 a crown for a head up to 53 cm fits in two pieces, and on Letter up to about 49.5 cm; bigger heads get three. The joins always fall in the dip between two points, and the name stays whole on one piece. The page starts on Letter in US and Canadian browsers and on A4 everywhere else; switch it under Paper.

How do I make a 100th day of school crown?

Pick the 100 days smarter design. Its front panel has a 10 × 10 grid of boxes, and the points along the band are numbered 10, 20, 30 and so on, so children can colour ten boxes at a time and count to 100. The child’s name goes on the band and the age (or leave it blank) underneath. Most US schools reach their 100th day in early to mid-February. For a class, paste the register into the name box: one crown per line, all in one PDF, and the “To colour in” version saves the colour ink.

Can I make a birthday crown to colour in, or for a party of kids?

Every design comes in two versions: in colour, and as clean black outlines on white for colouring in with crayons or felt tips. For a birthday party, type every guest’s name, one per line; a crown with a size after the name gets that size, the others use the size above. The age goes on a round badge at the front of every crown in the list, so when only the birthday child should show their age, make that crown on its own and the guests’ crowns with the age box empty.

Is the paper crown template free?

Yes. There is no sign-up, no watermark and nothing to buy, and the PDF and PNG are made by your own browser: the names never leave your device. The print fonts cover Western European letters (é, ö, ñ, ø and the like); other alphabets are left out of the PDF, and the page tells you when that happens.