What would a fairy tale be without a princess? Help your child make her very own princess puppet using items you probably already have around the house. Her puppet will provide loads of fun (and some imaginative learning!) while she role-plays and develops her story-telling and social interaction skills.
What You Need:
- Paper bag
- Markers
- Construction paper
- Sturdy silver paper/cardboard (a Nordstrom gift box works well)
- Scrap of fabric, preferably with some sheen to it
- Craft glue
- Hot glue gun
- Scissors
- Optional: tulle and trim
- Optional: glitter glue, gems, beads, stickers
What You Do:
- With the paper bag folded and flat (how it comes in its packaging), have your child draw a face on the bottom flap of the bag (on the part that would normally sit on a table etc). She can draw her princess face however she likes!
- Help her cut out a crown from the silver cardboard (or paper) and let her embellish it with glitter glue, gems, stickers, or beads, if you're using them.
- It's easiest to pre-cut the construction paper strips for your child to create hair. If you have a paper shredder, it makes the perfect width strips and saves a lot of time.
- Have your child roll the paper around a marker or paintbrush handle to create curls.
- Use craft glue to attach the hair to the bag. You can put as much hair on your princess as you like.
- Help your child cut a triangular piece of fabric for the dress - preferably something with some shimmer so that your princess's dress sparkles!
- Help your child glue it to the bag, tucking the edges behind the side panels and gluing it into place.
- If you're using tulle, cut out a panel a few inches longer than the width of the bag and scrunch it up in an accordion fold. This will be the bottom half of the princess's dress.
- Use hot glue to adhere it to the dress, holding it down a few seconds until the glue sets. Add a piece of trim to neaten the top edge (or "waistline" of the dress) and hide any glue, if you like. A grown-up should do this part.
- Your child can also embellish the princess’ dress with glitter glue, gems, beads and/or stickers.
- Set your princess puppet aside to dry.
Once your princess puppet is good to go, start story-telling! There are so many different stories, fairy tales and fables that star a princess, that your child is sure to have loads of inspiration. Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and The Frog Prince are just a few classics. Your child can create her own fairy tale with the help of her princess puppet too!
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