How to Make Puppets at Home
- Learning Resources Posted On Jan 29, 2021 | Play
Puppets are a great way to spark your child’s imagination and are fantastic for encouraging storytelling and creative play. They’re easy to make at home using maker materials, craft supplies and even recycling materials in and around the house. Here are some simple ideas for how to make puppets at home.
Check out other storytelling related content on our blog:
How to make puppets at home with paper
These Paper Mice Finger Puppets from Red Ted Art are an easy and fun way to keep kids busy and crafting one afternoon. They’re simple to make and can be easily done with materials you have at home.
Shadow puppets are one of the oldest forms of puppetry. They’re super easy to make. Get set up with black card, a light-coloured pencil to draw your design, masking tape, and sticks. Then watch this how-to video.
Tip: Turn our Coding Critters colouring sheets into paper puppets. Colour in the characters, cut them out and use masking tape to mount them on sticks.
Origami puppets are ideal for older children to make on their own, and they’ll be practising fine motor skills, and geometry through a fun, creative activity.
How to make puppets with socks
Found an odd sock? Turn it into a puppet! Visit Love Your Clothes where you’ll find simple step-by-step guides on how to make sock puppets at home. Make a sock puppet dog, monkey, and snake.
Turning your old socks into hand puppets is a great way to use up old and odd socks and help the environment. According to Love Your Clothes, 616 million socks are discarded in the UK every year!
How to make finger puppets from gloves
Don’t throw away your old gloves. Turn them into finger puppets! You’ll need a glove, coloured felt, and fabric glue. Take the old glove and snip off the fingers as close to the base as you can. Use felt to create your puppet. You can make crazy monster, a cute ladybird, or a blooming flower.
How to make puppets at home from trash
One person’s trash is another person’s puppet-making supplies treasure trove! Whether it’s disposable wooden cutlery, a scrunched-up ball of paper with string for hair, or an old box, raid your recycling bin for supplies, and then watch this video from The Puppetarians for ideas on how to make puppets at home.
Time to put on a show!
A tabletop makes an ideal stage. Or go diving into your recycling again and retrieve an old cardboard box. For a demonstration on how to create a stage theatre from a box, watch this DIY tutorial from Belgrade Theatre.
Storytelling is a fun way to engage with your child and encourage their imagination and creativity. Find ideas on how to get started by reading Storytelling With Your Child and Simple Storytelling Tips for Parents. Then try these techniques to make your own puppets at home.
Free Christmas Puppet Craft
Looking for easy kids Christmas crafts ideas? Download your free Christmas puppet craft from Red Ted Art. This creative easy craft is great for classroom activities or doing at home.
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Storytelling With Your Child
Storytelling with your child is a great way to expand your little ones imagination, and also a great family time activity. Here's our guide to getting started.
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