How To Make Worry Dolls

Learn how to make worry dolls for your own children or for gifts for a friend going through a difficult time. This is the first page of the tutorial and includes the materials and equipment needed as well as my top tips.

These Guatemalan worry dolls are used to help children to talk about their troubles. The child would tell the worries to their doll and put the doll under the pillow. 

In the morning the doll would be gone taking the child's worries with it. 

The first time I made a worry doll for my young daughter she loved the doll.

She wouldn't tell her worries to it though because she didn't want the doll to vanish in the night. 

Instead I just encouraged her to share her troubles with her doll and I let her keep it to play with.

Talking about the things that worry us often helps even if there is no-one there to listen. I think it's much better to learn this at an early age than bottling everything up inside.

Mia's Top Tip

Don't worry too much about getting the pipe cleaner completely covered on the first wrapping.

You can wrap each area as many times as you want to make it is all covered.

When wrapping the arms and legs remember how many wraps you used so you can make sure both sides are the same thickness.


Materials and Equipment

• Pipe cleaners
• Embroidery cottons or wool
• Large bead
• Double sided sticky tape
• Card for measuring hair
• Scissors
• Pliers
• Fabric painting pen

Need Supplies?

Go to worry dolls supplies to find all you need for this craft.
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How To Make Worry Dolls Page 1



Bend one of the pipe cleaners in half.

This one will create the body and legs of our worry doll.

Wrap some embroidery around a piece of card to make the hair.

I have used an old greetings card but you can use any folded piece of card. Open the card a little and cut the threads.

Try to keep them together so they don't get tangled.



Thread the hair through the pipe cleaner so the hair rests at the bend as you can see in the photo.


Thread the large bead onto the pipe cleaner pushing it up to the hair.

You want the hair to be sticking out of the top of the bead.

You now have two long lengths of pipe cleaner sticking out from the other side of the bead.

Twist these two together starting right up under the bead.

This will help to secure the bead in place. Continue twisting to create the body but leave two lengths for the legs.


Using the pliers bend the ends of the pipe cleaner over to create feet and hide the sharp end of the wire.

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