Puppets and Puppet Making Ideas

Puppet Making Ideas

Puppet making has been popular with children and adults alike for hundreds of years. From the traditional ‘Punch and Judy’ papier mache puppets right down to the simple sock puppet, their popularity endures simply because they can take on a life all their own.

Resources
Many of the materials you can use for puppet making you will find around your house or in your craft or busy box. A good idea is to sit down and sketch or talk about your puppet first, thinking about the materials you will use to decorate it. Let your kids use their imagination and the possibilities will be endless.
Some suggested items are- cardboard rolls/tubes, cardboard boxes, wool, scraps of fabric and felt, poster paints, glue and a good supply of buttons, beads and sequins for eyes.

Puppet Types

There are many different types of puppet that are suitable to make with children.
The simplest of those would have to be finger puppets which can be made with cardboard, felt or material. If using felt or material, younger kids will need some assistance with the sewing, but they will love helping to decide on the materials for the faces of their new family.
Cardboard is even easier to work with. After making some cardboard tubes to fit kiddy fingers you simply need to cut out felt faces and features which can be stuck on.

Hand puppets or glove puppets can come in many variations. They can be as straight forward as an odd sock with some buttons sew on or can be tailor made with felt or material. Hand puppets come in two different forms. There is a flat handed puppet where the thumb and little finger are the arms/hands of the puppet, with the middle three fingers controlling the head. A profile hand puppet uses the side of the hand so that the thumb and forefinger form the mouth so that the puppet has a talking or chomping action. These puppets are great for littlies as they love the idea that something is coming to gobble them up!

*TIP– If you don’t have a sewing maching then felt is the easiest material to work with. It is easily purchased in small squares of many colours, easy to cut and sew and does not fray like many materials if they are not overlocked.

Another great puppet to make at home using household items is what is known as a kitchen puppet. These puppets use a wooden spoon, small mop, or feather duster as the base for a crazy character. You can then add cardboard or pipecleaner arms and legs, and felt and material scraps for clothes and decoration.

A favourite puppet of ours to make when we were kids were pom pom puppets. We had a mum who used to knit so there was always wool lying about the house which is really the only thing you need for a pom pom puppet. Once they are finished all you need to do is add some pipecleaners legs or felt wings and features. The final touch is a length of thin elastic to hold the puppet by and your pom pom puppet is ready to bounce into action.

FINGER	HAND	FLAT HAND	KITCHEN	POM POM

***Stay tuned for individual help in puppet making for all of the above projects!!

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