Paper Squishy Templates to Print, 20 Free Designs from Dumpling to Gingerbread Man
Our paper squishy templates are free to print and you'll find 20 designs in one PDF, from a dumpling in its steamer basket to a gingerbread man. Each shape comes as a front and a back, with its finished size in centimetres. Your first one takes a good half hour.
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Quick answer
Download the PDF and print it at 100 %, never "fit to page". The 5 cm line at the bottom of each sheet tells you if the size came out right. Big shapes end up about 9 cm across and small ones about 6 cm. Paper squishies aren't for children under three, and an adult does the fiddly cutting.
Prefer one that's ready to squeeze? Our dumpling squishies and butter squishies are in the shop.
Free printable squishy templates (PDF)
The file has 34 A4 pages and nobody asks you to sign up. Pages 1 to 17 are in colour. Pages 18 to 34 repeat them as outlines, which saves ink and gives kids something to colour.
Why so much food? When we looked through squishy pins on Pinterest in October 2026, flat food templates were the ones people saved most.
Download all 20 templates (PDF)
| Pages | Designs |
|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | dumpling, butter, cheese, axolotl |
| 5 to 13 | pancakes, watermelon, sushi, pizza, macaron, cow milk, strawberry toast, sandwich, matcha cake |
| 14 and 15 | gingerbread man, snowman |
| 16 | four pastel butters |
| 17 | Christmas sheet with star, bauble, tree and snowman butter |
| 18 to 34 | the same 17 sheets as outlines |
Every sheet has a grey border around each shape. That border is the 3 mm strip where the tape grips, and you cut along its outer edge. The size printed under each pair already includes it.
Try it yourself
Measure the 5 cm line with a ruler before you cut anything. If it's shorter, your printer shrank the page and the front and back won't line up.
Dumpling paper squishy template
The dumpling sits in a little bamboo steamer, just like the bao squishies in our shop. The big one is about 9 x 9 cm, the small one about 6 x 6 cm.
The folds on top run towards one point. Draw over them with a brown pencil and they look like real pleats once the tape goes on. Everything about the real thing, from foam to gel, is in our dumpling squishy guide.
Steamed Bun Squishy, Slow Rising PU, 9 cmView
Butter squishy template, also in four pastel colours
Our butter is a block seen slightly from the side, so you get a top and a side face as well.
The back is mirrored. That matters. When you lay the two halves back to back, the side faces line up and the butter keeps its shape. The pastel sheet holds four butters in four soft colours, each about 7.6 x 5.4 cm.
The finished foam version is our Christmas butter stick. What makes butter squishies so popular is in the butter squishy guide.
Cheese squishy template
The cheese wedge has a darker rind on top and holes on both sides. Its back is mirrored too, like the butter.
Paint a few holes darker. Now it looks deeper. Straight edges make it one of the easiest designs to cut.
More food templates from pancakes to sushi
These nine designs are flat shapes without thin arms or tails, so the tape stays smooth and nothing tears while you stuff it. For younger kids the pizza and the sandwich are the easiest, because their edges are mostly straight.
Pancake stack and watermelon slice
The pancakes come as a stack of three with a cube of butter and a drip of syrup, about 9 x 6 cm. The watermelon is a wedge with a green rind and black seeds, about 9 x 9 cm.
Sushi and pizza
The sushi is a salmon nigiri on a block of rice. The pizza slice has a crust at the top and salami on both sides.
Macaron and cow milk carton
The macaron is pink with a cream filling. The milk carton has cow spots and a pink nose under a light blue lid.
Strawberry toast, sandwich and matcha cake
The toast carries cream cheese and strawberry slices. The sandwich is a triangle with lettuce and tomato peeking out at the bottom. The matcha cake is a slice with cream layers, and its back is mirrored.
Axolotl paper squishy template
The axolotl is a round pink head with three chunky gills on each side. We kept the gills fat on purpose, because thin ones tear when you push stuffing in.
Cut the gaps between the gills with the tip of the scissors. That's a job for an adult. So we'd save the axolotl for older kids, the ones who can stuff the gills gently without poking a hole through the tape.
Christmas paper squishy templates
Christmas gets two full sheets plus a mixed one. The gingerbread man and the snowman each have their own page. The mixed sheet holds a gold star and a red bauble, plus a green tree with a snowman butter.
The gingerbread man and the snowman are about 9 to 10 cm tall. The snowman's scarf hangs on the other side at the back, so it lines up when you put the halves together.
A paper squishy fits in a Christmas card envelope or an advent calendar bag. If you'd rather give a foam one, the snowman squishy is soft and slow rising.
How to make a paper squishy from a template
These are the steps from our paper squishy guide, where every step is explained in more detail.
| You need | Good to know |
|---|---|
| printer paper, 80 gsm | thicker paper lasts longer but is harder to stuff |
| wide clear packing tape | about half a metre for one big shape |
| narrow sticky tape | for the edges |
| cotton wool or toy stuffing | scrunched plastic bags work too |
| pencils and scissors | round tips for kids, a sharp pair for the adult |
Planning for a class? With one big shape each, 25 kids need roughly 12 to 13 metres of wide tape. Tear the strips off for the younger ones, because packing tape is hard for small hands to unroll.
- Print the page at 100 % and colour in both halves. Let felt tip dry for a few minutes.
- Cover each shape completely with wide clear packing tape, grey border included.
- Cut out both halves along the outer edge of the grey border.
- Put them back to back with the coloured sides out and tape the edge with short pieces of narrow tape. Leave a gap about two fingers wide.
- Push in stuffing bit by bit with a pencil.
- Tape the gap closed.
Don't stuff it too hard, or it won't squish. A few pin pricks in the tape let air move in and out, so it rises again slowly after a squeeze. An adult does the pricking with a fine needle.
Why does my paper squishy tear?
Usually there's too much stuffing inside, or the tape strips are too long and lift at the curves. Pull some stuffing out and patch the seam with shorter pieces. Wrinkles come from smoothing the tape from one side, so start in the middle next time.
Careful
Paper squishies aren't for children under three, because tape and small pieces can come loose and be swallowed. Use tape or craft glue. Superglue and hot glue guns stay off the kids' table.
Butter boxes, milk carton and cube nets to fold
These templates fold into little 3D boxes instead of flat squishies. You get 10 butter boxes of 30 × 30 × 110 mm, a cow milk carton, a pizza box, a cheese wedge and three cube nets. Every net was checked geometrically with our template tool, so the edges meet when you fold it. Print it once at 100 % before you start.
Download the fold templates (PDF)
Cut along the solid lines. Fold the dash-dot lines away from you and the dashed lines towards you, then glue the hatched tabs with a glue stick or craft glue. An adult does the cutting, and superglue or hot glue stays off the table.
Paper boxes are not for children under three, because small paper parts can come loose.
FAQ
What paper is best for a paper squishy?
Normal 80 gsm printer paper works. Thicker paper of 100 to 120 gsm lasts longer but is harder to stuff into the corners.
Why is the back of some templates mirrored?
Because the halves go back to back. The butter isn't symmetrical, and neither is the cheese. For shapes like these only a mirrored back lines up with the front.
Can I print the templates for a class or a party?
Yes, print as many as you like for home or school. A birthday table works too. Most sheets give one big and one small squishy, and the two mixed sheets give four small ones.
Do you ship to Australia and New Zealand?
Yes. If you'd rather squeeze a foam one, we ship from our partner warehouse to most EU countries as well as Australia and New Zealand in 7–15 working days. Costs are on our shipping page.
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