Craft Puppets Aplenty!

Puppets, like people, come in all shapes and sizes. No matter whether it's a marionette or a modified paper bag, puppets can animate a child's imagination like nothing else, and give them the opportunity to create a character, act out a story, and narrate the world in their own voice. Perfect for getting your child imagining, designing, and performing, and cheaper than tickets to the theater, these make-at-home puppets are fun, fast, and kid-friendly. No strings attached!

Here are a few ideas for making your own:

• Paper Plates: Use a marker to draw features on a paper plate or cut features out of construction paper and glue them onto the plate. Use wiggle eyes, yarn or ribbon for hair, and scraps of fabric to enhance the puppet. Glue or tape to a popsicle stick.

• Paper Bags: Create faces and glue them to the bottom of small paper bags to make puppets, using the fold of the bag as the mouth.

• Socks: Use permanent markers, wiggle eyes, and fabric scraps to make sock puppets. The toe of the sock can be tucked to create a mouth.

• Coat Hangers and Hose: Bend a coat hanger to make a circle. Cover the circle with one leg of a pair of hose. Wrap leftover hose leg around the hanger handle and tape securely with duct tape to form a handle. Use felt to cut out features and affix the features to the puppets “head” with glue.

• Glove Puppet: Sew Velcro to the fingers (palm side) of a work glove. Create felt or poster-board puppet faces about the size of a poker chip or fifty-cent piece. Place the matching Velcro on the back of each face and adhere it to the glove. This type of puppet is great for fingerplays that count down from five.

• Finger Tip Puppets: Cut the fingers off a clean cotton glove and discard the rest of the glove. Use a permanent marker to create faces on the glove fingertips. Glue yarn on for hair. Small wiggle eyes add to the fun.

• Cup Animal Puppets: Make a hole large enough for a finger in the side of a paper cup. Lay the cup on its side with the hole in the bottom. The bottom of the cup is the puppet's nose. Use construction paper and markers to create facial features. Use yarn and fabric scraps to add other details.

• Stick Puppets: Use flannel board patterns or coloring book patterns to make stick puppets. Just color them, cut them out, laminate them, and attach them to a popsicle stick.

Almost anything can become a puppet if given the chance. By cultivating your child's creativity and imagination, you'll teach her that the world is an amazing place, full of characters to create and stories to tell!